Bittersweet Goodbye
by Pandajoy
Summary: Complete! ...It is Ginny's second year at Hogwarts, and it seems that the nightmares of her first year are not just dreams anymore. The story features favorite faculty members, escaped convicts, some Slytherin boys, and
1. Summer Thoughts

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the affiliated characters and places. All of that belongs to JKRowling and her people.

**Author's note**: If you do not like Ginny, do not read this story. Otherwise, have fun! Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get the indents to show up.

The tiniest hint of sunlight trickled through the misted bedroom window that sat happily on the wall of the lopsided Burrow. The sunlight slinked across the floor and began to crawl over the quilt that covered the end of the single bed that occupied the room.

Ginny sat across the mattress, horizontal to the headboard on her belly and watched, transfixed as the golden light crept through her room. She watched as it flooded the wooden floorboards, devoured her bureau, her desk, and finally arrived at her bed. She wiped her eyes and yawned in a way of greeting the new day. Her eyes stung with exhaustion. Sleep had become scarce ever since the previous school year's events. The darkness reminded Ginny of him; that's why she so cherished the warmth of the light.

As the thought of him once more entered her mind she shuddered involuntarily. She hated the way it made her skin prickle, she wished she could get over it. She wanted more than anything to feel the way she claimed she felt to her parents. Every morning they would greet her with affection and tenderness as if they were handling an extremely delicate piece of glass. She would stubbornly remind them that she was over it and felt no effects of those past events. Yet her mother had become even more protective over Ginny; so much so that Mrs. Weasley would insist Ginny stay within her sight as much as humanly possible. Mr. Weasley was trying to persuade his daughter to sleep in their bedroom so as they could keep on eye on her while she dreamt. Ginny had thankfully argued her way out of that by claiming she would feel much more comfortable in her own room with her own things. They had agreed reluctantly.

Suddenly overcome with a feeling of sickness, Ginny raised herself up and crept out of her room and down the stairs towards the bathroom. She was startled when she heard her father's voice carry up the stairs from the kitchen on the floor below her.

"…He's just escaped from Azkaban only a few days ago, Molly, there's no way Black could possibly be after him already."

Her mother's voice, "I know, Arthur, but who's to say Harry is safe with those muggles? The ministry should at least have someone watching over him."

"Albus Dumbledore feels confident that he will be perfectly safe as long as he doesn't wander too far off."

"I know… I just can't help being worried about him. He's just so young."

"I understand Molly, but Harry will be fine. I do think, however, that it would be best if we told him what was going on, and about why Black would be after him-"

Mrs. Weasley cut him short, "Arthur! That would positively scare him to death. I don't think that telling him about how Black betrayed his par…"

Her voice was suddenly drowned out as Ginny heard one of her brother's scuffling down the flight of steps behind her. Wanting to avoid a confrontation so early, Ginny leapt inside the washroom just as her eldest sibling still at home, Percy, stepped onto the landing and continued his way down the stairs. Her stomach clenched and she was sharply reminded as to what brought her to the bathroom in the first place. She had become accustomed to the routine and swept her hair into a loose ponytail with her hands as she kneeled on the floor in front of the lavatory and quickly regurgitated any remains that still lingered in her stomach. She rinsed her mouth and brushed her teeth clean after recovering from the brief spell of nausea.

She looked into the mirror, and a frightened, red-haired, little girl stared back at her. Her chocolate eyes had dulled, as had her skin and hair. She scratched at her head and shrugged her shoulders, _At least I still have good teeth_…

Ginny trotted down the remaining steps to the kitchen, feeling better. She received the normal anxious glances from her family, as though she were about to shatter right before them. She frowned and gave the expected retort of how she was fine.

"Ginny, dear, is there anything I can do or get for you?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she ushered her daughter into a chair at the crooked kitchen table.

"No, Mum. I'm fine, I can feed myself, you know." Ginny said irritably, and regretted it immediately after seeing a look of hurt flutter across her mother's face. "But, thank you…" she added lamely in an attempt to redeem her mistake.

Mrs. Weasley nodded with a reassuring smile, "Okay honey, I understand."

Ginny had a fleeting thought of just how little her mother really did know before seating herself across from Percy at the wooden table.

Ginny remained in the kitchen for a while and listened to the rather dull conversations between her parents and Percy. After becoming bored of her father talking about the muggle device called a stapler, she quietly excused herself and took refuge in the nearby living room nook. She settled down with a wizarding magazine (Witch Weekly) and propped it open against her knees. It was only when she realized that she had reread one of the articles' first paragraph several times over without taking in a word of it did she finally give up trying to take her mind off more important matters.

Sirius Black was a name that most magical children around her age grew up knowing. He was an infamous murderer that killed twelve muggles and one wizard with a single curse. But what did he have to do with Harry? Ginny vaguely wished she knew more, and was tempted to ask her parents about it, but they would only claim that she was too young to understand.

She sat on the old patched couch pondering about Harry for a while longer, desperately hoping to see him soon. Ginny had always been fond of Harry Potter, ever since the first day she saw him at Kings Cross Station, in London. She had spent the last two years thinking constantly about him, and it had become obvious to everyone that she liked him. And after saving her life a little over two weeks ago, she had grown to like him even more. _If it hadn't been for Harry, Tom- no- You-Know-Who would have surely killed me_, she thought. _I would have been gone forever, and no one would have found me, and soon they all would have forgotten about me._

Ginny sighed, she knew she shouldn't think of her family that way, but she couldn't help feeling that she had always been the one overlooked. She had six, amazing older brothers that almost everyone adored. Bill was the oldest and was smart and cunning; he worked for Gringotts as a curse breaker. Charlie, the second born son, was dashing and tough, yet friendly to almost anyone; he also had a challenging job that included working with dragons. Then there was perfect Percy, who was intelligent and ambitious, who had been Prefect, and who was likely to become the second head boy of the family. Fred and George may not seem to be brilliant at school, but they were funny and great at making novelty items, amazing beaters on the Quidditch team, and were the two most popular people in the entire house. And finally there was Ron, who was Harry Potter's first real friend. Ron, who had helped Harry fight You-Know-Who for two years in a row, and who was known for his skill in Chess.

Ginny was none of those. She was the tagalong, naïve, little girl who had put her trust in a mysterious diary and almost helped revive the memory of Lord Voldemort, one of the most feared wizards of all time. She was just a shadow in her family that nobody noticed because they truly wanted to. She was noticed because she was the only girl and people were afraid for her. That was all.

"Hey dad," Ron's loud voice coming from the kitchen snapped Ginny out of her trance, "Is the fellyphone ready yet?"

"Oh yes, it's right over there." Ginny heard her father say, "In the Living room, on the table."

Ron's loud footsteps came walking into the living room. Ginny smiled and bid him a good morning. "Sleep well last night?"

"What? Oh, oh yea. It was fine," Ron said without really looking at her, he added as an afterthought, "Want to watch me?"

Ginny snorted at the stupid question, but answered sweetly, "Of course, sure."

Ron smiled and pulled out a small crumpled piece of paper as he leaned down to sit next to the wooden coffee table in front of the couch. He stared at the paper as if reading directions, then laid it flat on the surface of the wood. He fixed his eyes on the strange device before him. Ron picked up the receiver, and looked at the number pad then dialed a series of numbers.

Ginny's excitement began to grow, not because of Ron using a muggle device, but because Ron was going to talk to Harry. She was considering asking Ron if she could talk to Harry when―

"HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I – WANT – TO – TALK – TO – HARRY – POTTER!" Ginny frowned and covered her ears as her brother roared into the mouth piece with an increasingly red face, "RON – WEASLEY! I'M – A – FRIEND – OF – HARRY'S – FROM – SCHOOL!"

Then she heard another voice coming from the other end of the receiver that Ron was now holding at arms length away from his head, "THERE IS NO HARRY POTTER HERE!" – A quick pause – "I DON'T KNOW WHAT SCHOOL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! NEVER CONTACT ME AGAIN! DON'T YOU COME NEAR MY FAMILY!" There was a short click and all sound was suddenly cut off.

"What'd you reckon happened?" Ron looked at her, clearly puzzled.

"Probably shouldn't have yelled!" Mr. Weasley called laughingly from the kitchen.

Ron sighed, and seemed to sag with disappointment; "I hope I didn't get him in trouble. I probably shouldn't try that again…"

000

Ginny's mouth hung open for at least a minute before what her father had said sunk in. Mr. Weasley had won the Ministry of Magic's annual Galleon drawing grand prize of seven thousand gold galleons.

The thought of new robes and clothes spun around her head. She might be able to get her own wand, instead of having to use Bill's old one from his years at Hogwarts. She even thought that she would be able to get her own owl, until―

"We're going to spend most of the money on a trip to Egypt to see Bill," Mr. Weasley exclaimed happily to all the present Weasley family members. Ginny's eyebrows drooped in disappointment. She looked around and saw that Ron must have been thinking along the same lines since his smile had faltered. He must have been thinking that he could have gotten his wand replaced (the one he had used for his first year at school had been broken when he and Harry had crashed Mr. Weasley's flying car into the Whomping Willow when they had attempted to land it at Hogwarts the summer before their second year had started. Needless to say, Ron ran into some complicated issues after trying to use it). She saw him force a wider grin, and she followed his example.

"That sounds great, Dad," Ginny said quietly, "But, wouldn't it be better if we used it for –well– other things."

Mr. Weasley's hair sagged, he had obviously thought everyone would have been just as excited as he, "I – I, oh, well. Well, I thought you would all be very happy about seeing your oldest brother."

"No! I didn't mean it like–" Ginny's voice was cut off by Fred.

"Don't listen to Gin, Dad, she's just being a prat about this."

George piped in as well, "Yea, I support your decision completely!" His voice lowered to a whisper so that only Fred and Ginny, who were closest him could hear, "I can't wait to lock Percy up in a tomb." She giggled at the thought.

ooo

Ginny combed her hair through one more time before sweeping it up into and simple bun, admiring it in the mirror as she twirled in her pale yellow summer dress. She put in her favorite earrings next, silver flowers that she had inherited from her grandmother. Then a silver necklace that was fairly plain except for the pendant. The pendant was not one of her grandmother's; it was something Tom had given her. She didn't know why she kept it. She didn't even know how Tom gave it to her, but she just knew he had. It was a silver serpent coiled about a sword. It was about half the size of her thumb, and beautiful. She liked how it shone brightly, even in the shadows. Ginny hoped Harry would notice it when she saw him today in Diagon Alley.

She looked at herself one more time in the mirror, then stepped out of the bathroom and hopped down the stairs into the kitchen where the rest of the family was assembled. Ginny smiled as she approached them, expecting someone to compliment her.

"Oh, Ginny, dearest, there you are!" Her mother hugged her as if Ginny had just returned from a long vacation. "We're going by Floo Powder today, so I'll go first, then you can follow me."

Ginny's smile faltered. Not only did she not receive a compliment, but now she had to get her best outfit dirty by traveling through fireplaces too. She grimaced at the thought of Harry seeing her and saying "Gosh, Ginny, you could have at least cleaned up before you came to see me!" But Harry wasn't like that, she told herself firmly.

"Diagon Alley!" Mrs. Weasley said from inside the fireplace as emerald flames enveloped her and she disappeared.

As soon as she had gone her father extended a hand and gently pushed Ginny towards the fireplace. "Are you sure you can do this, honey?"

She rolled her eyes, "Dad. I _have_ done this before! Why do you always have to baby me? I'm not some fragile, moronic, doll!" She glared rebelliously at him as she scooped up some powder and threw it into the flames. She stepped in and made sure to look her father straight in the eye as she pronounced clearly through the soot, "Diagon Alley."

She felt her entire body spinning and bumping into stone walls before finally landing unsteadily on her feet. She inhaled a nice amount of fresh air as she stepped out of the fireplace to join her mother who stood waiting for her a couple off feet to the right.

As she stood waiting for the rest of her family, brushing off some soot here and there, her thoughts began to drift. _I wonder if Harry likes girls with red hair… Maybe he likes Hermione… she is pretty and smart. Ron seems to like her a lot. Harry probably likes her too. I wish I were more like her. Or Padma Patil, she's gorgeous. Why am I so scrawny? I hope I don't grow taller than him. That would be so embarrassing!_

"Ow, George!" Ginny exclaimed as her brother tousled her hair playfully.

"Oh, so cute! Ickle Ginny is wistfully thinking of her shining knight, Harry!"

"I am not, you big git!" her flaring cheeks betrayed Ginny as she turned her back and huffed off into the alley, wanting nothing more than to get away from her prying siblings.

Ginny hadn't gotten far before Ron caught up to her and wrapped an unyielding grip on her forearm. "Mum and Dad don't want you wondering off, Gin." He gave her an apologetic smile.

"Why don't they understand, Ron? I don't need their babying. I'm fine. I made a mistake and learned from it. That's all." she glanced at her brother's foot to hide her growing insecurity. "Just because of --last year–- doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to grow up."

"Look, Gin, I know what you're trying to say, but they just want to protect you—"

"Well, I don't need it!" she snapped as she yanked her arm free from Ron and made a break for the nearest store, Quality Quidditch Supplies. She stormed through a group of onlookers at the window front and slammed through the door –straight into the elder Malfoy, followed by the younger.

Ginny bounced off the man's chest and landed quite unceremoniously on her bottom. She groaned as she made a move to stand.

"Stay on the dirty ground where you belong you filthy, little girl." Lucius Malfoy sneered as he jabbed Ginny in the gut with his cane.

"You bas―" Ginny's words were cut short as Draco Malfoy pretended to stumble over her feet, purposely kicking her the shin as he passed, his long cloak fluttering over her knees.

Ginny crawled to her knees and glared at the retreating backs of the Malfoy's, unaware of the questioning looks she was getting from other shoppers. He brother Ron arrived shortly after, a smaller figure with bushy brown hair trailing him.

"Hey Gin, I just found Herm― Gin, what happened?" Ron's cheerful expression faltered as he noticed the slightly flustered Ginny glaring down the alley. "You OK?"

Ginny straightened her clothes, dusted her dress and composedly told him that she was fine. She greeted Hermione with a short hug, the other girl very pleased to see Ginny. Hermione's skin was tanned and her hair slightly bleached from the sun, she was wearing a simple tee and skirt and casual sandals.

"We're going to go get ice cream, will you come? And I'm just so happy to see you! I'm so glad you're alright!" Hermione said as she excitedly let go of the youngest Weasley.

Ginny was immediately on guard, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Hermione looked instantly taken aback, "Oh ―Gin, no, I'm so sorry―"

"Ya know, I think I will go back with Mum. You two go ahead and get ice cream, and I'll meet up with you later at the Leaky Cauldron." Ginny gave a slight smile and left her brother and his best friend standing in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies.

As she waded her way through the thick crowds of Diagon Alley, Ginny saw a few of her classmates from Gryffindor and bid them hello's. She was grateful to note that none of them seemed to realize her connection with the diary. They were all just happy to see that she was recovering well from the Chamber incident. Ginny remained polite, if distant from her fellow students. After saying good-bye to Fides Winslow, it wasn't long until Ginny met up with her mother, the twins, and Percy in Flourish and Blotts.

"Oh Ginny darling, there you are!" Mrs. Weasley greeted her daughter with a hug and directed Ginny to the second-hand books she had collected as they both began to look for other materials needed. Ginny had a fleeting image of her parents going through each text book to make sure there were no unwanted items hidden within them. Her mouth twitched in a sad smile.

Later in the evening when they had all finished their shopping, they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron for the night.

Ginny sulked into the building behind her brother Percy, and was about ready to skip dinner when her eyes fell on Harry Potter.

She felt her cheeks warm against her will, and she was suddenly caught in an upsurge of butterflies. She was trying to think of something intelligent and very conversational to say when, again, against her better judgment, she blurted out a shy-sounding "hello" while she was looking in the general direction of her feet.

Feeling heartily ashamed at her poor performance in front of Harry, Ginny vowed to make up for it. She was plotting her next course of action when she heard her brother George exclaim, "What do we want to be prefect's for… it'd take all the fun out of life!" Ginny laughed at that and immediately lightened up. She needn't worry right away about Harry, she just needed to relax and gradually get him to notice her. She sat down at the table where her mother had deposited the shopping bags for a while before excusing herself to go up stairs and prepare for dinner.

ooo

Morning had arrived, and Ginny had already been up for nearly an hour when Hermione yawned and leaned out of bed. Her brown hair was frizzier than ever as she walked to her dresser to brush it out. She smiled into her mirror at Ginny. Hermione was still acting a bit odd after their meeting yesterday.

Ginny felt a little guilty about how she had acted towards the older girl and wanted to put it past them, Hermione was too nice of a person to be treated like that. "Hermione," she began quietly, "I didn't mean to snap at you yesterday. I'm sorry. You were just trying to be nice to me, and I nearly bit your head off…"

Hermione turned around, a real smile now playing across her lips. "It's OK, I should have been a bit more careful I suppose. I just want us to be friends. I mean, Ron and Harry are great and all, but it would be nice to have a true girl-friend to talk to."

"_Boy_," Ginny giggled, "do I know what you mean!"

She continued to talk to her roommate as Hermione finished getting dressed and they headed down to breakfast where they found Mrs. Weasley.

Mrs. Weasley eyed the two fits of laughter as the walked into the dining area. She smiled, happy to see that Ginny was starting to act normal again. "Girls, now just what _is_ so funny?"

Hermione blushed as Ginny giggled out "Boys!"

Mrs. Weasley's smile grew slightly sneaky and eager as she began to talk about a love potion she had once made while at Hogwarts. Ginny and Hermione both leaned in for the story, all seeming very happy and giddy at the conversation topic.

Just then, Harry entered the room with Ron. He glanced towards Hermione, and then continued on his way. Ginny felt a blush creep up her neck, he was just so cute. Too bad he would never notice her. She heaved a sigh and let her mother's words fade out while Ginny once again turned her thoughts to the past. To the only person who had noticed her, and also who had so dearly betrayed her, hurt her.

A person who she thought she had known, who had deep black hair and mysterious thick-lashed blue eyes, and a sly smile that sparkled malevolently in the dark. He had long, articulate fingers, a lean frame, and a cold touch that seemed to burn ones skin…

Ginny shivered at her memories and before arousing suspicion of her mother, made an excuse that she had forgotten a book in her bedroom. She practically leapt from the table and had a slight skip in her step as she went for the stairs. She took two steps at a time and was soon at the second floor landing, where she went left for the loo instead of towards her bedroom to the right.

She entered the small room and gently shut the door behind her. Ginny leaned against the doorframe and sank to her knees as she released a small sob. She tucked her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms about herself protectively. Her frizzed bangs stuck to her face as she let tears flow slowly down the side of her face. She hiccupped.

"I'm such an emotional wreck!" She reprimanded herself aloud, "You keep telling everyone to treat you like you're fine, but you're not."_ You're just a stupid little girl who cries alone in the dark._

And Ginny did. She wept silently in the shadowy bathroom, not understanding why she couldn't stop.


	2. Meetings

**Author's note**: Ok, the first chapters are a bit angsty, and do drag, but they're basically just there to cushion the actual plot. Sorry if they're skimpy and don't seem to serve a purpose. Please bear with me, I promise that at least the third chapter and those following will be _much_ better. Anyhow, for the most part, the story follows canon. Of course, I did take _some_ liberties so that if JKRowling didn't say that it certainly did not happen, then I'm assuming that it could have happened. There is some out-of-character-ness for sure, especially since the readers don't know much about Ginny in the first few books. Well, hope ya'll enjoy! Constructive criticism welcomed!

It was several hours later when the Weasleys and Harry clambered

out of the Ministry cars and bustled into Kings Cross Station. Ginny had been forced to recover from her pity spell after George had tried to open the bathroom door by throwing dung bombs at it. This had resulted in him having to wait an extra hour to get in, for Ginny had stubbornly refused to get out until after she had taken a shower.

The group arrived shortly at platform nine and three quarters, with plenty of time to spare. Ginny watched idly as her father and Harry casually leaned into the barrier and disappeared. Percy then resolutely grabbed her about the arm and marched through the wall, dragging Ginny unceremoniously behind him. She was gasping by the time they reached the other side where their father was waiting.

Percy puffed out his chest, exclaimed, "Ah, there's Penelope!" and strode off to a girl with curly long hair. Ginny shared an amused look with Harry as Fred and George entered behind them and brushed past to greet their friend, Lee Jordan.

After everyone successfully joined them, Ginny followed Ron and Harry onto the train with Hermione at her side. They packed their trunks in an empty carriage, and then went back off the train for last minute goodbyes to Mr. And Mrs. Weasley.

Ginny hugged her mother around the waist and received several kisses before hugging her father and boarding the Express. She waved back at them as they train began to crawl away and Harry quickly jumped on. He muttered something to Ron and Hermione as the locomotive picked up speed.

"Go away, Ginny," Ron said gruffly. Ginny was slightly taken aback as her hopes were crushed. Had she really been foolish enough to think she would actually be able to sit with them?

"Oh, that's nice," she said acidly as Hermione shot her an apologetic look. Ginny spun on her heel and continued to the front of the train as the trio headed towards the end.

Ginny slowed her pace as she decided she had reached a point where her brother would not be able to see her if he turned around. She stopped and leaned against the corridor wall. The way was empty; everyone else seemed to be capable of finding a compartment to sit in. She knocked her head lightly on the wooden siding, upset at her inept social skills.

"Lousy good ―for― nothing…" Ginny stopped as the wall behind her gave way and she began to fall backwards.

She barely had time to utter a sound when she collided with someone behind her. _Of course, I just _have_ to lean against a _door_ and not an actual _wall

Strong hands were wrapping themselves about her arms as Ginny fumbled to regain her footing. Her heart was thumping loudly against her chest.

The person behind her let out a laugh as Ginny straightened her skirt and turned around to mumble an apology. Her brown eyes widen in panic as a boy with black hair and a handsome face with devious white smile looked back at her. It was _him_.

Ginny stood frozen, her hand hanging in the air, half way extended to her mouth. Her mind was racing, screaming that this couldn't be possible. Telling her to do something− when it hit her.

This boy was too young to be Riddle, looking no older than Ron. He reached a hand out to her shoulder. "Are you alright, Miss?"

"Err," Ginny faltered as she was still recovering. _I'm stupid to think _he _could be back. Why am I so quick to believe he can return? _"Yes," she mumbled clumsily.

The boy looked mildly surprised and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Ginny wasn't sure what he meant until she remembered that he had opened his compartment door to find her seemingly waiting there for him. "Oh! Umm, no, I'm so sorry about that. I didn't realize –I mean, I thought that was the wall– not your door or anything –it's not as if I was waiting for you– oh gosh, I didn't mean it like that ―because I might wait for you if I knew who you were– but I don't –and…"

He was watching her with increasing interest as Ginny awkwardly searched for the right words.

"I –err– I'm terribly sorry," she concluded lamely as he continued to smile at her. Ginny fidgeted uneasily under his slightly cocked gaze. His hand was still on her shoulder.

"My name is Blaise Zabini, and you must be a Weasley." The boy withdrew his hand from her shoulder, only to sweep hers to his lips. Ginny felt her cheeks flare as she remained rooted to the spot, completely dumbstruck.

"Ginny," she replied automatically, as Blaise let her hand fall gently to her side. His eyes glided over her.

"Do you need a place to sit?" he asked, moving to allow her access into the compartment. There were several abandoned cloaks strewn across the seats. Blaise obviously had companions –two of them very large according to the garment size– who were possibly making their way back at this very moment.

"Will you have room?" Ginny found herself saying. _You dimwit! Just say no!_

"For you, of course." And Ginny stepped in.

She walked to the window seat and settled herself into the comfortably cushioned bench. To her relief, Blaise sat opposite Ginny, and not right next to her, which she had started to think he might.

After minutes had passed, and neither one had exchanged a word, Ginny again became unnerved with the boy's lingering watch.

"So, Blaise, what –err– house do you belong to?" Ginny tried conversationally as she readjusted her skirt again.

He contemplated this question as his eyes rolled over her hair. "I'm in Slytherin, third year."

"Oh" was all Ginny said at that. _Does every guy I meet have to be in Slytherin?_

"Yes, I'm quite happy with where I am." Blaise said, interrupting her thoughts, his smile becoming tilted into a smirk, "Ironic. Isn't it? I mean, to have a Gryffindor and Slytherin sitting so peacefully with one another."

_Tch, it's only peaceful because I'm too freaked out to do anything because you keep _staring_ at me!_ Ginny forced a smile, "I suppose."

As The Hogwarts Express traveled progressively north, the skies grew darker and more ominous. Storm clouds gathered and the wind began to howl. Ginny and Blaise sat opposite one another, chatting sparingly about Quidditch and classes, the summer holiday.

Mid-afternoon approached, and the witch with the food cart arrived from the southern end of the train. She was plump and had graying hair, looking very much like a loving grandmother. Blaise was kind enough to buy Ginny a few cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs.

When the witch had left, Blaise handed Ginny the assorted sweets. "I hope you like these."

"Thank you, I do, but I'm not really that hungry…" _Do you really expect me to eat in front of you while you keep giving me that creepy look? I just want to get out of here. _Ginny offered a small smile then tucked the food safely away in her worn robes. "That was really kind of you to get me that. Thanks."

Blaise observed her as she again fiddled with her plaid skirt.

Just then the compartment door slid open. Blaise started and tore his gaze from her. Ginny turned to see the new comers.

Her eyebrows furrowed. _Oh Merlin, not that bloody git!_

Draco Malfoy leaned on the doorframe, his arms crossed, and his stance haughty. His platinum blond head barely reached the chin of the two boys behind him, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Malfoy opened his mouth to say something to Blaise, when his eyes caught sight of Ginny. His faced turned sour in surprise, then confusion, and finally anger.

"What―" he pushed himself off the doorframe and into the compartment― "is" ―he strode towards Ginny― "this" –he leaned to her eye level― "piece" –he glared at her― "of" –he snarled― "_shit_, doing in here, _Zabini_? In my seat, no less!"

Ginny could almost see the daggers flying from Malfoy at Blaise. She had stopped breathing some time ago and was presently suffocating herself as the atmosphere tensed inside the compartment.

"Miss Weasley is here as my guest, Draco. I invited her in." Blaise regarded Malfoy coolly.

Ginny swiftly shot up from her seat, "You know, this was quite interesting Blaise, but maybe—"

Malfoy cut her off as she felt him enclose his fingers around her arm, "Do you honestly expect me to sit with this _trash_, Zabini?"

Ginny drew in quick breaths as her right hand began to lose blood. She grimaced as Malfoy dug his fingertips into her flesh. _What the hell am I doing here? _She screamed at herself.

"That's quite enough," Blaise had also moved to his feet and was reaching to uncoil his classmates grip. Malfoy snatched his hand away, finally remembering his father's words, '…_that by touching filth, you become filth_'.

Blaise tenderly guided Ginny out past Malfoy, who was now rubbing his palm as if he had been scorched. They stepped between the skulking masses of Crabbe and Goyle, and promptly set off for the end of the train.

"Ginny," Blaise said as he stopped at the end of next carriage to catch his breath, "I'm really sorry about that."

"No, no…I should've…It's not your fault," she replied lamely, leaning against the wall to steady herself. Blaise rested his arm on the wall as well, his eyes staring at Ginny behind ebony locks. "Blaise, you—"

The train gave a sudden lurch and Blaises' lean frame slammed into Ginny's slender one. The lights flickered and the train came to a slow stop.

Ginny uttered a hoarse cry, then wriggled free from Blaise. She took a few steps backward, apologized for who-knows-what, and sprinted to the end of the train. She knew Ron was back there somewhere. She dodged between heads that were now sprouting out of the compartments. Everything suddenly plummeted into Darkness.

Ginny reached what she hoped was Ron's compartment and slid the door open and slipped inside.

She bumped into someone and yelped.

"Who is that?"

"Who's _that_?"

"Ginny?"

"Hermione?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Ron—"

"Come in and sit down—"

Ginny didn't hesitate and fell into what she thought was the nearest seat. She ended up in someone's lap instead.

"Not here! _I'm_ here!"

Ginny flushed, _of course_ she just _had_ to sit on _Harry_. She tried to move again, and then stepped on Neville's toes. "Ouch!" he exclaimed.

There was much commotion as Ginny tried again to find a new place to sit. She crawled along the floor awkwardly, her hands stretched before her. She suddenly met what felt like a soft wall, and realized with a jolt in her stomach that she was gripping the front of a person's cloak.

"Quiet!" a hoarse voice issued from the figure Ginny was resting into. _My God, who the heck am I clinging to?_ She snatched her hands to her chest just as the person whispered a spell.

The shabbily clothed man was holding a small ball of blue fire in his outstretched hand. He had brown hair that was streaked with premature gray strands, and had a face that looked young but worn beyond its years. His eyes were dark with an oddly yellow tint to them. They were alert and wary as they scanned over the room.

"Stay where you are," his hoarse voice said calmly. He was now on his feet and was heading to the door.

Ginny was overcome with a miserable chill as she watched the door slide slowly open before the man could reach it. Something was standing there, its tall hooded figure eerily illuminated by the glowing orb of blue flame.

The Thing took in a long, raspy breath and Ginny felt as if her very soul was being tugged away from her. She was suddenly overwhelmed with a horrible feeling…

She could hear something now, it was very faint at first, but was growing stronger as her body grew weaker. It was laughter, a high-pitched malevolent laugh.

And then it was a voice…

"_You're mine Virginia Weasley. All mine, and you love it…"_

The floor was painfully cold and rough like stone, her robes were torn and damp. Cool hands were snaked about her shoulders, drawing the life out right through her skin.

"_You're a part of me and I you forever, Virginia."_

"My name is Ginny. My name is Ginny…" she hadn't realized that she was shaking, that her stomach was convulsing, or that she was speaking. But the feeling was leaving her. She was not in the Chamber with Riddle. She was on her way to Hogwarts. She was with Harry…

Ginny delicately pried her eyes open. She was still in the compartment, and the Thing had gone. The lights were back on, and the train had begun moving again.

The man, Hermione, Ron, and Neville were gathered around something on the floor.

Harry.

"Will he be alright, Professor?" Hermione asked the man, her eyes pleading.

"Yes, he should be fine. Ron, try to wake him up again."

_So that explains who the man is_. Ginny quietly watched her brother shake and slap Harry on the face. Ron was calling Harry loudly into his ears.

Harry finally stirred and mumbled something Ginny couldn't make out.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked his best friend, his face apprehensive.

Harry began to speak again, Ginny watched him attentively. He glanced at her, his face pale and dripping with sweat.

A loud crack caused Ginny to jump. The Professor was breaking a large chunk of chocolate and handing everyone a piece. Ginny accepted hers and huddled in the nearest corner. The conversation that the others were having was lost to her as she shuddered uncontrollably by herself. She clamped her eyes shut again as they watered threateningly. She didn't want to cry anymore.

Her body uttered a sob nonetheless, which gained the attention of Hermione. The bushy-haired older girl swept towards Ginny and slipped her arm around Ginny's back. She whispered soothing sounds to Ginny and tried to calm her nerves. The chocolate began to soften in her hands and she took a bite from it before it melted onto her fingers.

The effect was instantaneous, and she was flooded with a reassuring feeling of warmth that lasted the rest of the trip until the Hogwarts Express finally pulled to a scheduled stop at the Hogsmeade station.

As everyone jumbled to get off –Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Neville being the forerunners― Ginny was left in the compartment with only the Professor.

She was still crouched in the corner when he approached her, his worn robes fluttering slightly.

"Are you going to be all right, Miss Weasley?" The man asked her soothingly.

Ginny was not surprised to find he too already knew who she was, what with the trademark Weasley hair and freckles.

"I think so, Professor…" she had no idea what his last name was.

"Lupin." He helped her to her feet and she smiled at him in thanks. "Would you like an escort?"

He was worried about her. Ginny blushed, _someone who isn't spine-chilling cares about me…_ "No, thank you. I'll be fine Professor."

He bid her a farewell and Ginny stepped off the train onto the platform and into the storm.

The wind was howling, and the rain was pelting her ragged clothing –she was soaked in seconds– but the real mess was the clutter of students. People were heading in every which way, pets were scampering beneath her feet, and owls were fluttering awkwardly in the blustery weather.

She was almost at a carriage where some of her fellow Gryffindor second years were climbing into, when she felt something slink around her waist.

Ginny felt the hairs on her neck bristle as someone tilted their head into the bend of her neck.

"Hello, Ginny." said the silky voice of Blaise Zabini.

Ginny removed Blaises' hands and turned to face him, her chest quivering with the banging of her heart. "Please don't do that, Blaise…"

Blaises' look remained smug as Ginny started to frown uncertainly, her hand slowly edging to her wand pocket.

"Ah, Ginny," Lupin emerged from the crowd, "Care to join me in this carriage?"

Ginny nearly cried at the Professors timing. She beamed at him, grateful for an excuse to get away from Blaise. "Yes, that would be great! Thank you."

She strolled to where Lupin was standing and accepted his hand when he held it out to assist her into the horseless carriage. He followed her in.

Ginny flopped into the luxurious interior, happy to be free of the rain. Professor Lupin positioned himself across from her and studied the scenery through a small circular window as the carriage bumped along.

They rode in silence, sometimes commenting on particularly big lightening flashes.

"Thank you for that back there, Professor." Ginny blurted out unaware that she intended to say that aloud.

"That was no problem, Miss Weasley. I saw that you were quite shaken up after that dementor paid us a visit, and I only wanted to make sure you made it safely to the Castle." he smiled pleasantly at her.

Ginny was going to say more, when his face suddenly darkened, as he regarded her in a serious manner and said, "I suppose it was about what happened to you last year that put you in such a troubled state?"

He spoke in an almost casual manner, as if being possessed by a Dark spirit was a normal thing.

"Err, yea. I didn't realize Dumbledore had told you that..." Ginny admitted.

He looked at her in a thoughtful behavior, as if thinking of asking her something when the carriage pulled to a stop. They had reached Hogwarts.

What ever it was that Professor Lupin had meant to ask Ginny, she never found out. As she stepped out after him, they both noticed Malfoy and Harry some ways off seemingly ready to hex each other. Lupin and Ginny shared an exasperated glance before the Professor marched off to settle the dispute.

Ginny watched him go shortly before heading up the marble steps and into the school to the awaiting feast.

As always, the enchanted ceiling reflected the sky above, and tonight it was dark and overrun with storm clouds. Ginny was sitting at the Gryffindor table admiring it, when a person sat next to her.

Ginny scooted over to let the girl have more room. She seemed vaguely familiar, she was in Ginny's year. Ashlyn Wischard. Ginny smiled, "Hello, have a good holiday, Ashlyn?"

"Oh! Ginny," the girl gave Ginny a quick hug in hello, "Yes, it was fine," she said as she tossed a strand of long silvery-brown hair over her shoulder. Ashlyn had a slim, pale face and large hazel eyes.

Ginny had often been foolish enough to envy the young girls luck in the gene pool, but she had hardly recognized Ashlyn this year. Her eyes had dulled, and her face seemed washed out.

"I'm fine," Ashlyn had caught the worried look on Ginny's face, "It was that awful dementor on the train. It walked right into our compartment…"

"Oh, yes, one almost did the same to me and my brother, but Professor Lupin was there and got rid of it." Ginny said, "I was quite distressed myself."

The hall suddenly went quiet, and Ginny immediately turned her attention to the staff table. Dumbledore was standing up to make an announcement, his blue eyes twinkling behind his half moon spectacles, "I take this time to ask for your attention, the sorting ceremony is about to begin."

Ginny saw Professor Flitwick walk around the staff table carrying a crooked stool with a dusty old hat on top. He walked to the center space between the house tables and the teachers, and placed the hat and stool down.

Professor Sprout then led in the first years, all of who looked very small and timid. Ginny remembered being just like that only one year previous.

The hat had only just begun its song when Ashlyn, the girl sitting next to Ginny, jumped to her feet. Her hair swished behind her back as she glided to the door of the Great Hall and disappeared. Ginny watched her go, apparently the only one who noticed the girl's departure. Unsure of what to do, Ginny quietly got up and followed her classmate.

On the opposite side of the room, another figure furtively left after Ginny.

The silver head of Ashlyn Wischard was already half way up the stairs to the second floor when Ginny exited the Great Hall.

"_Ashlyn!_" Ginny called out in a whisper. The girl paused, and without turning, shook her head at Ginny and continued on her way.

Ginny stubbornly tracked her, wondering the whole while what was happening. Was she still feeling ill?

At the top of the staircase, Ginny spotted the girl enter a room just beyond the third coat of armor, across from a picture where a maiden sat reading a novel.

Quickening her footsteps, Ginny soon reached the entrance, and realized it was a girl's lavatory. She leaned her head against the wooden surface, listening for any sound. Small weeping noises barely penetrated the thick door. Ginny rested her hand on the brass doorknob and slowly opened it.

Ashlyn hadn't bothered to lock herself in a cubicle, but merely collapsed on the tiled floor beneath a sink. Her body was trembling with her little cries. Ginny knelt down to her classmate; the floor was icy to her bare knees.

"Go away," Ashlyn choked out as Ginny reached her hand out to comfort the girl.

"I'm not going to leave you here." Ginny stated matter-of-factly. Ashlyn halted her whimpers briefly, and turned her moist eyes to Ginny. Her mouth was slightly agape, her expression confused.

"Why did you follow me?"

"Err, well, I wanted to help you," Ginny said truthfully. "I know what it's like to feel lost and miserable—"

"No you don't," Ashlyn let out a dry laugh. "Believe me, you have no idea what it's like to go through what I'm going through right now."

Ginny hesitated, why did she bother to go after this girl she hardly knew?

"Well, maybe I don't exactly. But I can try to help, what ever you're dealing with, you can share the load with me." Ginny smiled in a hopeful manner. She was glad to see Ashlyn return it.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you like that," the girl's thick-lashed eyes fluttered, the tears continued to slowly flow down her flushed cheeks. "I'm not sure what any of this means right now. I'm so disorientated. Still trying to get my bearings, I guess…"

"Oh…well, if there's anything I can do, I'm here for you," Ginny tried in a reassuring manner.

Ashlyn sniffled, and rubbed her eyes, smiling appreciatively, "Yes, thanks, that's great to hear. But, as for right now, I'm just going to clean myself up. I'll be back down to the feast in a few. You go ahead of me…"

Ginny nodded in understanding and raised herself to her feet, "I'll be saving a seat for you."

She helped Ashlyn to her feet, and then left the girl to her own doings.

Ginny closed the door softly behind her, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention from anyone. She started on her way back to the feast.

She had just reached the staircase landing she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that someone was watching her. Ginny spun around and came face to face with Draco Malfoy.

He was standing before her now, glaring at her through narrowed, icy slits.

"Weasel."

"Malfoy," Ginny said raising her chin, and mimicking his cross-armed stance.

"I don't know what the hell you and Blaise were doing today, but stay away from him. I don't want your worthless arse anywhere near Slytherin." He smirked, "No matter how easy you may be…"

Ginny let her mouth hang open in mortification at that, _I'm easy? Since when? _and then, "Go to hell, Malfoy."

He sneered at her one last time before brushing past her down the stairs, his velvet robes swirling behind him.

Ginny did not follow him, but instead waited for Ashlyn at the stairs.

It was several moments later when Ginny's new friend caught up to her. Ashlyn was looking much better now, her hair had been combed through and her face washed and sparkling with a fresh layer of makeup. She greeted Ginny with another hug.

"I just really want to thank you," Ashlyn said, beaming, "Last year I barely talked to you, and I feel terrible about it now..."

"Aww, don't worry. I wasn't much of a communicator last year either." Ginny said, "Up for dinner, you think?"

Ashlyn looked at her stomach as it gave a low growl, "Heh, I think that means 'yes'."

Both of the girls giggled their way down the stairs, but made sure to compose themselves before entering the Great Hall. After all, it would be unfortunate for them to get in trouble after being in the school for less than an hour.

It was in their favor when none of the teachers took notice of them making a late arrival for the feast.

_Good thing the teachers are so thick this year, _Ginny thought to herself as she sat down next to Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch team keeper and captain, and set about gathering kidney pie, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, and biscuits. Next to her, Ashlyn was doing the same but with doubled helpings. Ginny giggled at her friends overflowing plate of food. "Hungry?" she asked.

"You don't know how much," Ashlyn said through a mouthful of potatoes.

Ginny didn't know what to say to that, Ashlyn was eating like a starved person. She instead dismissed that thought and turned her attention to the staff table where she potted Hagrid and the new professor Lupin chatting animatedly about something. Both looked extremely relaxed and at home. Hagrid was merrily swingy a large tankard as Lupin was sipping casually from a wineglass.

"Are you going to finish that, by any chance?" Ashlyn was looking over Ginny's shoulder at a particularly delicious looking dumpling.

"Oh, go ahead..." Ginny had stopped looking at the staff table, her attention now being held by another pair of eyes from across the room.

Blaise Zabini was sitting next to Draco Malfoy, but was openly staring at Ginny. He smirked at her and licked his lips.

_Please let that just have been to get some extra gravy off his lips... _Ginny's face blanched.

Blaise was relentless in that he continued to gaze at her during dessert ("Oooooh, you gonna eat that tart, Ginny?" asked Ashlyn), to when all the plates had been cleared ("Good thing I grabbed this before my plate disappeared," Ashlyn said) and right up until Dumbledore finally dismissed the students ("Do you think I can bring any of this stuff to our dorm, Ginny?" queried Ashlyn).

"Yea, yea, sure," Ginny answered her friend, "Let's just get out of here..." she hopped from her chair and followed her brothers Fred and George out of the Great Hall.

As the large group of Gryffindors made their way to the common room, Ginny was finally feeling the effect of the long day. Her legs felt like lead as she dragged them continuously onward, her hair was flaccid and her clothing sagging along the floor as her posture decreased with each step. The only thought that kept her going was how much more comfortable her bed will be than a face full of wooden floorboards.

It was with great pleasure that Ginny collapsed into her four-poster bed after getting ready for sleep. She could hear the other girls in her year bustling around, still awake with excitement. Ashlyn couldn't seem to calm herself enough to get into bed, though her face was pale with fatigue. Instead she was listening intently to Fides Winslow's trip to Druid ruins in Northern Ireland that her mother had uncovered in early June.

Finding it all too difficult to stay focused on her friend's endless chatter, no matter how interesting it may have been, Ginny slipped into slumber, her last thoughts drifting about a raven haired boy.


	3. Of Lessons and Luck

**Author's note**: Chapter Three, Of Lessons and Luck, really starts off the story in my opinion. Chapter Two was almost there, but not quite. I really like how the story is going from this point on. Oh, and I guess there's no way to get the indents to show up? Heh, oh well.

The first two weeks of classes had been the most boring that Ginny could remember. They were filled with dreary lectures on review material and very few practical lessons for any of the classes. Latin, which Ginny had decided to take this year, was the only subject in which she was learning anything, considering she knew nothing of which to review. Today would be her first quiz in the class, and as she made her way to breakfast with vocabulary swimming through her head, Ginny bumped into Sycamore Mordant and Colin Creevey, two Gryffindor boys in her year.

"…I was just saying he's a bit odd, you know? I mean, he's way better than Lockhart, by a million and stuff…" Sycamore was saying as he entered the Great Hall, "But the guy has this aura about him or something, I can't place it, but it creeps me out."

"His classes are great though. That first lesson with the doorknob that was enchanted to bite ill-willed visitors was hilarious! If only we could catch Malfoy with that one… Anyhow, the guy is really fair. He hasn't assigned any long essays yet, and—"

"He's really nice," Ginny interrupted Colin as she came up behind them, figuring out who they must be talking about. "Remember when the dementors came on the train? That's when I first met Professor Lupin, he was the one who fought it off for us."

"Which suffice to say, means he knows what he is doing," Colin added.

Sycamore was thoughtful as they looked for seats, "Yea, I guess. I just wish I knew what it is about Professor Lupin that gives me such a strange vibe when I'm around him."

"Do you really?" Snape drawled under his breath as he passed the second years on his way to the staff table.

Ginny was on the offensive immediately, "Now there's a slimy git if I've ever seen one. Eavesdropping on us like that. What a peeve."

"Heh, you should hear Ashlyn going on about him in class." Colin said as he scooped eggs and potatoes onto a plate.

"That reminds me, have any of you actually seen Ashlyn? I haven't seen her at all since last night. She wasn't in the dorm or the bathroom this morning."

Colin and Sycamore both shrugged, their mouths too full to verbally answer. Ginny was somewhat relieved that it wasn't only her brothers who insisted on stuffing their faces when it came to food. She cast an amused look over them.

"Hmm, well then, I guess I'll just have a look around for her, shall I?" grabbing a piece of toast, Ginny excused herself from the table and made her way to the entrance hall, occasionally waving at friends she had yet to see.

Ginny was heading to the stairs when she saw Harry and Ron making their way towards the Great Hall.

"'Morn, Gin…" Ron grumbled, still half asleep himself.

"

Hey Ginny," Harry said to her as an afterthought.

"Oh, hi Harry." Ginny let them pass before mentally smacking herself on the head. _Why must I blush whenever he says my name? Why do I have to act so stupidly immature in front of him? He'll never notice you like you want him to if you keep acting so childish…_

"Good morning, Ginny."

Ginny let her shoulders droop. She didn't want to talk to Blaise right now. She had managed to avoid him, no more than the occasional glimpse exchanged. He had tried speaking with her in their Latin class but she hadn't responded. _I never want to talk to him again…but then…_

She turned around and Blaise was still standing at the top of the stairs leading to the dungeons. He was hastily dressed and tired looking, his face was more drawn today than the previous. _I'd think more Slytherins would look like that, considering they _live_ down there._

"Look, I just wanted to say—" he began, but paused as if considering his words very carefully. "…I'm sorry."

He again had startled Ginny. "Err, what?

"Well, I mean, there's something…I should explain," he said, seeming very small.

"Alright…" Ginny tilted questioningly, "What is it?"

His eyes remained focused on the floor.

"Weasley!" Blaise and Ginny both jumped. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Draco Malfoy was exiting the Great Hall with his two shadows, as well as Pansy Parkinson, a pug-faced girl with curled blond pigtails. Malfoy was stomping his way towards Ginny, stopping at a few feet's distance.

"Give it a rest, _Malfoy_." Ginny said the name as an insult, her eyebrows once more drawn together.

Blaise on the other became collected at the presence of Malfoy. His eyes were suddenly alight, his shyness gone. He swept by Ginny towards his friend, making sure to let his hand gently brush hers. "Later, Red…"

_What is going on here? _Ginny watched the Slytherin group slink off to the doors that lead outside. She stuck her tongue out at the retreating backs, the move seemingly appropriate for the moment.

"Hey, Gin!" It was Colin Creevey, "You ready for class?"

Ginny looked up at him and Sycamore who was with him. She quickly plastered a smile to her face. "Oh, I forgot my wand, actually. I'm going to go get it now," she lied quickly, still inwardly fuming over the Slytherin third-year.

"Right then, I'll hold a seat for you!" The two headed for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as Ginny proceeded to Gryffindor tower.

She was halfway there when she spotted Ashlyn down the hall walking in the direction of Ginny.

"There you are, I've been looking for you," Ginny said as Ashlyn reached her.

The other girl didn't look well. Her face was pale and her eyes had deep-set circles that were a mixture of bruised colors. She was shaking slightly in her shabbily applied robes, and her hair looked tangled in its hurriedly put up ponytail. Her stance seemed to be swaying, slowly rocking back and forth, her hands wrapped about her stomach. She looked ill.

"Gosh, you're not feeling so grand, are you?" Ginny said it as more of a statement than a question.

Ashlyn shook her head, "I'll be fine. Just a bit of PepperUp potion, maybe…"

"Want me to walk you to Madame Pompfrey?"

"No, no, you go ahead…"

"Really, it's no problem, Ash—"

"I said I'll do it myself," Ashlyn snapped as she stepped back, glaring at Ginny.

Ginny faltered as she withdrew her hands to her chest, "I'm sorry."

Ashlyn's face blanched. "Oh —no, Ginny, I didn't mean to— really, I'm sorry. This is just so overwhelming… Please, I'm sorry, you go ahead. I'll be fine."

She nodded, gently patting the girl on the shoulder, "Okay. You take care then, Ashlyn."

Ginny smiled reassuringly at Ashlyn who turned to leave, still swerving a little with each step.

Professor Lupin was leaning on his desk in front of the class when Ginny entered just as the bell sounded. His hair was lank and his face pallid, yet he looked on happily at his class.

"Please take a seat, Miss Weasley." Lupin smiled as he gestured to an empty seat in the front row. Most students had oddly chosen to sit further back.

Ginny nodded and took the seat directly in front of him, "Oh, Ashlyn Wischard is in the hospital wing right now for some PepperUp potion."

"That's quite alright." Lupin continued, "For today, if you could put away your quills and wands…there we go, I thought that I would start out with a practical lesson for each of my classes. I've found something that I think you'll find interesting enough." He first went to close the door, then moved around to his desk to open a drawer. "Now, try not to be too loud…" he opened to drawer and extracted a small box.

"Wow. Now _that's_ something truly _horr_ifying." Ginny heard a girl whisper loudly from behind her. She shushed her classmate distractedly, as she was quite interested in the contents of the box.

Lupin looked unabashed by the student's rudeness. He cleared his desk with his wand and laid the wooden chest in the center of it. "At the moment, before I open this, anyone have an idea as to what it might be?" He scanned the room again, "Ah… yes, Sycamore?"

Syca was diagonally behind Ginny, next to Colin Creevey. "Well, Grandmother told me of this thing called a Hollow Bog box. It's supposed to lure the listener to sleep. In the old days, thieves would use this to subdue the people they meant to rob… I mean, that's what I've heard."

Lupin was smiling slightly, "Yes, very good. That's partly true. Anyone else have something to add? No? Alright then, Sycamore was right about the thieves, but this little music box has much darker roots than just burglaries…

"Anyone here know of what a Bogart is?" the professor asked.

Ginny didn't know she had her hand up until he called on her, "…Oh! It's like a being that will take on any form it thinks will scare you the most."

"Right, but unfortunately, you don't cover bogarts until third year, but this little box has a very similar effect. While it does lure the listener to sleep, it feeds the mind dreams of the person's deepest fears, and traps the person in their sleep."

The class held a collective shiver. Ginny sank into her chair, _I have dreams like that almost every night and I don't need any stupid box to do it for me… _

"Now, there are certain things that you can do to protect yourselves from the Hollow Bog boxes, but first you need to know how to recognize one." Lupin continued, "In order for the boxes to work properly, there needs to be an incantation written somewhere along the fra—"

Just then, the door to the classroom opened. Ashlyn was smiling shyly as she softly closed the door. "Sorry Professor, I was just coming from Madame Pomfrey…"

"That's fine. Ginny explained why you were absent. Just find yourself a seat, please." He then continued on about Hollow Bog boxes as Ashlyn sat down next to Ginny, who eyed her worriedly. There were no subtle trails of smoke leaking from her ears.

"You OK?" Ginny mouthed furtively, casting an anxious look to her friend.

"Later," she mouthed back, busying herself with her books.

Ginny tilted her head and frowned to no one in particular. _What is with everyone this year..? But then, do I have any right to ask after how I must have been last year…? _She closed her eyes and sighed.

Lupin cleared his throat and Ginny snapped out of her reverie, being humble enough to blush. She guiltily looked at him, but he was still going full on about the box.

"…simple incantation, really, but it comes in handy if completed properly. Now, if we could practice it together, please…_Dimitimor!_" The class obediently recited the spell. Lupin smiled, "Now, wands aren't used with this spell, so the magic is hard to draw together. But, even more so that the user is asleep when it is used."

"Then how do we know when to use it, I mean, how do you know that it's the Hollow Box, Bog-thing, that's put you to sleep?" a brunette by the name of Fides asked from the back of the class.

Lupin was thoughtful for a second, and then "When you're dreaming, one usually can't depict all of their senses to a great extent. Faces will be blurry, direction is hard to come by, and will alone can change your surroundings completely. The dreams induced by the box, are quite…different. More vivid, more detail, much more clarity." His eyebrows were drawn together slightly. "A tiny advantage of the box is the dreamer's ability to remember falling asleep, the moments before they were put under a spell, unlike when you fall asleep naturally."

"That's all you have to go on, heh, really reassuring…" Fides murmured uncertainly.

"Now, are there any volunteers?" The room became very quiet.

"What about the rest of us, anyhow?" Fides asked, again not bothering with manners. "We won't be able to see what is happening in the person's dreams. How they react to their fear, what they say…"

Lupin still had a sad smile on his face as his eyes glided over the class. "Simple, the person acts as if they are awake, speaking aloud, moving their limbs, just all the while with their eyes, ears, and mind shut off from the world."

_This isn't something I want to see, or have be seen by others_. Ginny leaned back in her chair.

Sycamore Mordant then hesitantly got up from his seat and resolutely approached Lupin's desk. Silently he volunteered himself to go first. He had his face twisted, in what must only be a determined fashion. The professor cocked an eyebrow and Ginny nervously bit at the tip of her thumb.

"Won't we hear the music too?" a student asked.

Sycamore's face was paling by the second.

"Earmuffs, courtesy of Professor Sprout." Lupin said as he picked up slightly dirt-covered sack and began to hand out brightly colored earmuffs. He took a maroon pair for himself after he finished giving them out to all the students, excluding Syca. "Don't be nervous. I'm here to step in at anytime if I feel things have gotten too out of control." Lupin patted Syca lightly on the shoulder, who nearly passed out, but regained his posture soon enough.

_This won't be fun…_ Ginny was proud of Syca's courage, and at the same time becoming sick herself thinking about going through what he was about to.

"OK, as soon as we all have our earmuffs on, you will not be able to hear Sycamore or the music, even your own breathing, so I'm asking you all to pay close attention." Lupin flashed his smile again and told the students to raise their earmuffs to their head and put them on. He cast a silencing ward on the room before he raised the earmuffs to his ears as well, and looked at Syca to signal when to open the Hollow Bog Box. Syca pulled a chair forward facing the class, sat down, and nodded curtly.

And the Box was open.

Ginny watched as Syca's head dropped slowly as he fell to sleep. He was directly in front of Ashlyn, and not much more than a foot from herself.

She wondered what the music must sound like…

The change from relaxed to tense in Syca's body posture brought tingles to Ginny's spine. He was beginning to fight off his nightmare. Something ripped at the clothes about his collar. His hand shot up to his neck, and he was pulled forth from the chair he had been sitting in. Ashlyn slammed her desk backwards to avoid him crashing into it. Syca swung out a leg and struck his foe. He rolled backwards and onto his hands and knees. In any other situation, Ginny might have laughed.

Professor Lupin was hovering over Sycamore, anxiously observing the student. But Syca still wore his determined face and he was searching his pockets for what Ginny assumed to be his wand. He found out it last —or at least he did in his dream— and he flicked his wrist sharply and shouted what must have been the incantation, for immediately his figure relaxed again and his eyes fluttered open. A goofy smile played across his face. He triumphantly got to his feet and snapped the Hooded Bog closed.

The first sound that greeted Ginny's ears as she removed the muffs was clapping. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors alike were cheering for Syca as he returned to his seat. She was sure they had all been fighting their own fears with Syca.

Lupin smiled at his pupil and eased the class back to attention. "Sycamore inadvertently demonstrated the second way to avoiding dreams induced by the Box. Though it wasn't necessary after he recited the incantation and defeated his nightmare, but—" he tapped the box lightly, and said plainly "If ever you are suspicious of a Hooded Bog Box, just close it up. It's nice to find something so simple in the midst of complicated dark magic."

Ginny was sure she was not alone when she wished the Professor had told them that bit in the beginning of the lesson. Lupin smiled almost apologetically at the students. "It is good to know what to do if one is ever caught in the dream."

"I want to go," A dreamy voice drifted from the left of Ginny. It belonged to a very petite, very blond, very strange looking Ravenclaw girl. Her name was Luna Lovegood. Her wand was tucked safely behind her ear, and her robes were bound against her body by an excessive amount of oddly decorated sashes. Her long wavy hair was tied back in two loose braids that were held together by blue and black ribbons which had _The Quibbler_ flashing across them in silver calligraphy every so often. Alternately protruding from beneath her school robes with each step was a pair of pink and red cowboy boots, imported from what Ginny supposed were the States. Luna was already making her way up to the front of the room, dragging her chair behind her as she went.

Luna handed her earmuffs to Syca and settled herself in her seat before the class. "I want to see what happens if I fail to defeat my nightmare," she stated clearly. "And I want the class to see as well."

"If you are certain Miss Lovegood…" She nodded. "Well, I'm right here for you."

Luna's reaction to the dreams was quite different than Syca's. She took a shorter time to fall asleep, Ginny noticed, and she seemed almost excited to be in the circumstances that she was. Her eyes twitched once when she was suddenly lifted by the roots of her hair from her chair, dangling three feet off the ground.

The entire class drew back in unison, having not expected anything like this. Lupin was unsettled as well.

But that was not all that Luna was dealing with in her dream, as she now was floating in midair and trying to dodge her opponent, whatever it may be. Ginny gasped shrilly as one of Luna's sashes started smoking after she apparently was struck by her nightmare. She was gritting her teeth now, frantically patting at her robes and struggling against the force holding her back. Swinging back and forth, she was being tugged by each arm in opposite directions. There were multiple things attacking the Ravenclaw. Two were tugging her apart, one or more igniting parts of her robes on fire, and more clawing at her face and hair. Luna's mouth flew open in a scream and her body started to go limp when Lupin slammed the lid of the Box shut. He caught Luna's body as it fell towards the floor. He threw off his earmuffs, as did the students.

"Professor!" cried a distressed Ravenclaw, "What's happened to her? Please, will she be OK?"

Luna was still out cold when Lupin had her sitting on the floor leaning against the wall. "Yes," he answered after a moment. "The smoke and scratches aren't physically here, they're illusions. But unfortunately, at this point it would be impossible for Luna to wake up on her own. She is lost to her subconscious and the effects of the Box."

Ginny shivered at the thought.

"She can only be awoken by another person speaking a charm for her. But in order to do this correctly, that person has to share some of their happiness, laughter more specifically, with her." Lupin looked around the room, his eyes landed on Ginny, "Come here Ginny. Repeat after me, _Laeparas!_"

She did as told.

"Now, think of a happy memory, something that's made you laugh or keeps you happy…"

Ginny thought of the toilet seat she received in the post two years ago from Fred and George when they were at Hogwarts. She giggled at the reaction her mother had had to it.

Lupin smiled, "Got it, I assume? Good, concentrate on that thought and feeling when you say the spell. Touch the tip of your wand to her forehead… Great."

"_Laeparas!_" she said firmly as images of Mrs. Weasley making a howler for the twins flipped through her head. Her wand glowed a dim blue for a second before the spell died. Ginny sighed.

"Try a more specific memory."

This time a picture of Harry popped into her head. _He saved me…_

"_Laeparas!_" she said again, this time having faith in the outcome of the spell. Her wand shined much stronger and the blue light illuminated Luna entirely for a full minute, when her eyes flew open and a smile broke her calm face. Ginny slumped over, suddenly feeling very emotionally drained. Lupin steadied her.

"Brilliantly done, Miss Weasley!" he said as he helped both girls to their feet. "You're feeling a bit dizzy from the spell because you gave a little bit of your energy to Luna, more than usual I'd say actually. The effect was very intense for both of you. But honestly, just brilliant getting it on your second try. And Luna, might I say very brave of you to volunteer to do such a thing. Five points to both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, and another five for Sycamore as well. Excellent job class."

Ginny beamed.

"That's plenty for today. Tonight's homework is to write down your thoughts on the transfer of energy that takes place between the two persons…" Lupin's voice faded as Ginny returned to her seat. Wait until she tells Ron that she earned five points to their house this early. He'll be proud of her, she was sure. All she had to do now is to make sure Snape doesn't come up with an excuse to deduct points because of her.

Potions class is a meticulous, tedious, acute, annoyingly complicated magical science, according to Ginny Weasley. Yet contrary to Professor Snape's preference and Ginny's belief, she earned an average of 5.5 in his subject, surpassing all other first formers in the previous school year. It was higher than all her other classes ─including charms, which she had always liked best─ and she had even received a complement from Snape…_Less tiresome to teach than the average Gryffindor…_

It was apparent as Ginny entered the classroom that each Slytherin had remembered her success in the class and held it against her. _Not my fault that they're all so bloody spoiled that they get upset when honors grades aren't handed to them on silver platters with beaming comments and teachers bowing at their feet bending to my will, all of them, every witch and wizard, every muggle crushed beneath my…_

The impact of Ginny's books upon the stone floor silenced her fellow students immediately and left a hollow sound vibrating within the walls. _Where had _that_ come from?_

"Gin?" Colin finally broke the stillness of the room. He glared at the Slytherins who were either snickering or laughing at Ginny. "Tired, huh?"

Ginny found that she was unable to answer, or even move.

"Miss Weasley, although I am aware of your enthusiasm for my class, I would appreciate that you restrain yourself from celebrating by throwing your books and other possessions on my classroom floor." Professor Snape had emerged from his private chamber and was eying Ginny agitatedly as he made his way to his desk. "Do not think so highly of yourself that you are pardoned from picking up your own rubbish. Gather your things and make haste to your seat."

Ginny hadn't inched, her eyes staring wide in front of her. She couldn't bring herself to budge, her body outright denying her will. Her hand twitched on its own accord. It slowly lifted to her neck, where she could feel her pulse struggling with the effort of her heart, which hadn't received fresh oxygen for over half a minute now, Ginny had stopped breathing sometime back. The saliva that was gathering in the back of her mouth was beginning to make her gag reflexively. Her hand traced the line of her jaw as she stood frozen.

Professor Snape had been watching long enough and started towards Ginny. "Out!" he motioned for the students to disperse, "NOW." There was great commotion and Ginny watched as Slytherins and Gryffindors gaped openly at her as they fled the room. Snape motioned the door shut and grabbed Ginny's shoulders.

"Ginevra Weasley, you control this body, _now tell it so_."

_I can't…_

"You can. He has no right to it now, and he never did. _Tell him!_"

_He shouldn't be here, I'm dying. Out, I want him gone. Leave me…_

"Good," If it were possible, Snape's hawk eyes softened, "You're getting it back now."

Ginny's hand dropped to her side and her body shook as she was able to inhale. The force of breathing knocked her to her knees, her hands hit the floor hard, but it was barely registered in comparison with the relief she felt as oxygen circulated in her body. "Get out of my head…"

"Miss Weasley," Snape's voice was fading, "Miss Weasley?"

Ginny slumped over and everything was black.

"Dumbledore never said there may be some remnants of his spirit lingering in her mind… He didn't say anything like this would happen to her, poor thing. She's been through too much for her years."

"She was lucky I was there to aid her. With my occlumency I was able to talk to her, even though she was physically incapable of speech. Much like Lupin if you catch him at the right time of the month—"

"That's enough Severus. Miss Weasley needs her peace and quiet. Please inform the Headmaster and Professor McGonnagal of her whereabouts if they don't already know."

"Of course," there was swishing of a cloak and clapping of shoes walking away.

Ginny opened her eyes and let them adjust to the lighting. She was in the hospital wing, but that wasn't important, sleep was. She closed her eyes again.

It was nearly three hours later, "I can help her. It would be no problem for me."

"I was afraid something like this would happen, but I do not think extra Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons will be enough for her, Remus. She'll need to find something more that can help her."

A pause, "I understand."

Ginny opened her eyes again and sat up. The curtains around her bed were drawn shut and from what she could make out, Dumbledore and Lupin were at the opposite end of the wing. She vaguely wondered why she was in the hospital wing, what time it was, and if she could get any food.

Two pairs of feet were slowly making their way to her bed.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Ginny called out, she was surprised to find her voice raspy. She swallowed dryly and rubbed at her throat.

"Ah, Miss Weasley, nice to see you're awake." Dumbledore drew the curtains back.

"Professor, would you, uh, happen to know why I'm here?" Ginny asked timidly, fiddling with the hem of her bed sheet. "What happened? Was it the Hooded Bog Box, did I lose to it?"

Lupin stepped forward, "You were in Potions, Ginny. That's your third class, after charms. Tell me, what is the last thing you remember?"

"You're right, I remember Charms…we did a lesson on warming charms. Then I went to Potions, I was thinking about how annoying the class is, and my grades, and Slytherins, and then… I was really mad. I felt so mad, and vengeful."

She studied her hands.

"I am going to ask Poppy to excuse you for the afternoon, as I would like to see you in my office." Dumbledore glanced at Lupin, "Yes, you can come too."

"Would it be of use for Severus to be there?"

"He is in the middle of a meeting right now, but I'll summon him when it ends. He may be able to do something for Miss Weasley as well."

"Do what for me? What did I do? Have I done something to get me expelled?" Ginny crawled forward to sit on her knees.

Dumbledore smiled kindly, "Not you at all." He turned to find Madame Pomfry.

Ginny watched him go and then sheepishly crawled back into her sheets, burying herself from Lupin's gaze. "What's wrong with me?"

He did not reply immediately. A bird flew across the windows, its shadow gliding along the beds and wall as it went. Lupin sighed as it drifted on. Then, "I've never thought there to be anything wrong with you, Ginny. If you ever need any help, my office door is open to you."

"Here are your things, Miss Weasley. We'll be right outside when you're ready." Dumbledore had returned.

Ginny nodded and watched the two professors disappear out the door. Ginny sat out of bed and dressed, making sure to flat out wrinkles in her shirt and straighten her robes. She tucked her hair into a ponytail and checked that she had everything before leaving.

"This way, please, Ginevra." Dumbledore smiled as she closed the door behind her. They were silent through the halls, which were strangely quiet for a Hogwarts school day. They passed no one as they made their way to Dumbledore's office. Ginny was dimly aware of where they were heading, but was surprised to see them stop at a very odd little statue of a Gargoyle.

"Cockroach clusters," Dumbledore said to the statue. It nodded and pulled to the side, triggering the wall behind it to open up to a staircase. Dumbledore started up them, Ginny followed with Lupin behind her.

The stairs spiraled up and up, several floors from what she could tell. Ginny's head started to spin. When her legs seemingly protested to walk any further, they reached the top. Ginny exhaled happily, and found herself in a waiting room of sorts. There were two benches, and at the far end of the room, a single door with a bronzed griffin knocker. _How appropriate_, she thought.

He led to the door, and opened it to the most amazing office Ginny had ever seen. There were trinkets, scrolls, clocks, vases, and outright odd things that couldn't fit into any generalized category. Even being raised in a magical home had not prepared her for this wonderful collection Dumbledore had. She found nothing to do but stare and gasp for the first minute she was in the room. Dumbledore's opulently blue eyes shone from behind his half-moon spectacles.

"Professor," a sudden thought had entered Ginny's mind, "Ron doesn't know about me collapsing in Potions, does he?"

"I'm afraid not, Ginevra."

"Could you, uh, keep it that way?" She did not need anyone in her family knowing about this. "I mean, you don't tell Harry's aunt and uncle about what happens to him, so can you do that for me?"

Dumbledore had settled himself behind his desk and motioned for Ginny to sit as well. He was leaning on his elbows, his hands entwined. "It would be inappropriate and unacceptable for me not to inform your family."

Ginny's heart sank. She pictured her parents storming into Hogwarts and removing Ginny from the school only to have her put in the Permanent Spell Damage Ward in St. Mungo's.

"However," Dumbledore cleared his throat at Ginny's fallen face, the familiar twinkle alight in his eyes. "I have never been known for following ordinary guidelines. I trust you to solve this, Ginevra. But before you can do that, you need to understand what is happening to you."

"It's Riddle, isn't it?"

Lupin, who had been leaning on the back of Ginny's chair, tightened his grip at the name.

"Yes, to put it simply. Last year, the memory of Tom Riddle used you for your life energy and the power in your soul to feed him, to give him strength to accumulate a physical form. Before he could finish the spell and dispose of you, he was stopped and the diary destroyed."

Ginny felt a huge debt to Harry at that.

Dumbledore continued, "Unfortunately, I underestimated the complexity of what he had done to you, and the backup he must have planned in the chance his original intentions did not work out. It may be that when the diary was destroyed and you regained your energy, Riddle allowed some of himself to be drawn back into you, in this method, preserving his essence in you until he could gain more power and attempt to free himself again."

_Just great, this is all I need, a part of my soul belonging to the young Dark Lord._ "How am I supposed to get him out?"

The Headmaster's face remained calm, but his sorrow betrayed his eyes as he stared at Ginny. She worried her hands.

"It is impossible for me to say as of right now."

Her heart seemed to settle permanently somewhere around her intestines. She felt a lump form in the back of her throat. "Oh."

"That is not to say we will never find a way to rid of him, Ginevra. Sometimes, all one needs is _faith in themselves_. What I believe is that you have the answer to this problem and it all depends on whether or not you can find it."

"But, Professor, is there no spell or charm, anything, to help me? This must have happened to someone else at another point in time. There must be something to help me…" Ginny wanted desperately for a one-step solution to fall from the skies for her.

"I will of course be looking into it. I have many sources to look through for you. As for the action you are to take, I have arranged for Professor Snape to hold Occlumency lessons with you each Thursday evening during study hours. He is a skilled Legilemens—"

"You mean he can read minds?" Ginny gasped out. "And that's how he was able to talk with me!" An unfamiliar feeling of gratitude for the potions professor swept through her.

"Yes, and through these lessons we hope to help you overcome the influence of Tom Riddle."

"Headmaster," Lupin started, then looked down at Ginny and back to Dumbledore.

"This will not interfere with any of the Potion-making duties that Professor Snape may have." Dumbledore stated.

"No, it isn't that, I realized he would still be able to prepare the potion. There is something that I need to—" he glanced at Ginny once more, "This is about something else, rather."

"You are excused, Ginevra. We will speak again very soon. I will be watching out for your safety, of course."

Ginny had just enough sense to mumble a thank you before she wandered out of Dumbledore's office, a dazed look on her face. She wondered what Lupin was talking about, and why he looked so concerned for her. _What a nice guy._ Ginny shrugged her shoulders and made her way down the stairs and into the corridor. She realized that she had no idea of the time. And yet, that didn't seem to matter as she thought of Riddle being inside her at the very second. That he had been with her all summer. That he may be with her forever.

When Ginny had managed to wind her path back to Gryffindor tower, through the portrait, up the stairs, and to her room, the tears began to fall. Her sheets wrapped their arms around her lovingly as her pillow snuggled to her cheek protectively, caressing the salty water from her face.

_If life could bite, I swear I'd be eaten and digested by now_, and Ginny fell asleep.

Ginny was climbing a tree outside her house…watching Fred and George being told off by mum…on her first train ride to Hogwarts…watching Harry catch the Golden snitch to beat Ravenclaw…trembling behind Bill as he toured the family through a ancient tomb…

Ginny registered her body slamming on a cold surface. The Potions classroom swimming back into focus and Ginny groaned as she realized what happened.

"Up, Weasley." Snape was a few feet in front of her, his wand still at the ready. "That was dreadful, I was hoping for better from you."

"I know, I know…" she grumbled as she got to her feet, her hatred for Snape multiplying by tens with each passing moment. She had been in the classroom for less than five minutes, in which time Snape had done nothing except say '_Prepare yourself, Weasley,_' and proceeded to strike her with a spell. "Professor, how am I suppose to defend myself?"

Snape looked as if her were trying very hard not to roll his eyes, "You have to use your will to shut off your mind from me. Try to clear your mind and your wand may be of some use too."

Ginny nodded and gripped her wand tighter, trying to think of possible hexes to use to fight Snape off…

"_Legilimens!_"

Percy was reading a bedtime story to her…she was sitting on the kitchen table as her father cleaned a scrape on her knee…she was saying goodbye to Charlie before he left to Romania…she was with Riddle in the Chamber as he stroked her hair thoughtfully…

_That's enough_, a voice inside Ginny argued as Riddle leaned forward, _that's enough, no more__—_

Ginny had collapsed again, her arm covering her face as well as the tears that were streaming down it, her brain pounding. She pushed herself off the ground again, shaking much more than last time.

"You're not trying hard enough," Snape said as he battled off Bat-Boogeys swarming around his head. "At least this time—" he scorched a boogey, "you managed to throw something back at me—" he froze and shattered several more, "however odd the choice might have been." He zapped the remaining bat-boogeys.

Ginny giggled despite herself, "The twins always said I had a gift with that one, seems only natural that I'd use it."

"Quite." Snape cast a disgusted look towards her as he cleaned his robes and face. He held his wand out, "Again."

Riddle was standing above her with a smirk spreading across his face…Harry was helping her to her feet…Riddle was leaning closer…

_NO!_ Ginny felt her hand jerk and heard herself yell, "_Incendio!_"

She was kneeling on the ground now, the room swirling into view.

Snape was snuffing out flames on his robes, wearing a very agitated look. He sneered as he repaired his robes, "Getting a bit violent are we?"

"Sorry sir," Ginny muttered, feeling nothing of the sort for the Professor. She wiped again at the hot tears on her cheeks. She had been having nightmares about the Chamber and Riddle for months, she needn't have Snape seeing her memories about it.

"_Legilimens!_"

Ginny was crying as she wrote hurriedly to the Diary…she was beaming at an excellent grade she received on a Potion…she was talking to Professor Lupin in the carriage…Riddle was feeling more solid by the second as she was falling into darkness…

"STOP IT!"

She was crumpled on the classroom floor, her entire body quavering. Her chest felt chilled and constricted as though she really had just been with Riddle in the Chamber. Ginny shakily lifted herself to her hands and feet, looking anywhere but at the Professor. Her emotions struggling between fear, anger, embarrassment, and frustration.

"You need to make more of an effort if you wish to be successful in Occlumency, Miss Weasley," said Snape, his voice quieter than previous. Ginny finally brought her eyes to his.

"Do you see everything I see, because I don't stop you fast enough?"

"I see bits of it," Snape's voice was loosing its edge. "These memories of —the Chamber— have you been able to remember them this clearly before now?"

Ginny sighed, "No. To be honest, if I remember anything of Riddle and the Chamber, it's in my dreams. I remember his voice. But of what actually took place in the Chamber, my mind has mostly blocked out, and it only comes back to me when I sleep." She tried to sound nonchalant as she brushed her robes clean of dirt, "Or something of that sort, I suppose."

"I see," Snape looked almost sympathetic, before "Well get up, Weasley. And you're wasting time and energy by yelling. Keep your emotions in check and your mind _clear_."

"Right, right…" Ginny took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves, not thinking about Snape and his wand pointed at her, but rather on the dusty smell of aged books. It was almost comforting.

The pages of Diary were rough to the tips of her fingers, but relaxing. She was writing Tom about Harry…

_Quit it already_, the voice in Ginny's head spoke very clearly this time. _I said out!_

"_Expelliarmus!_" Ginny was aware of the fact she was casting the spell, and saw hazily as it disarmed the Potions Master. Her vision focused and she realized that she was still standing.

"How do you know that spell? I don't recall having taught you in the Dueling Club." Snape's hawk eyes had narrowed.

Ginny's shoulders slumped, she had been expecting maybe a compliment. How naïve that was. "Dunno."

"You mean to say you cannot remember where you learned that spell?"

_That's usually how 'I don't know' is interpreted._ "That's correct, sir," Ginny answered curtly.

Snape's eyes darkened, "Let us go again then. _Legilimens!_"

Ginny hadn't even begun to prepare this time… She was in the common room, writing to Tom…she was alone in the corridors outside the portrait of a warrior entangled in a fight with a serpentine creature…she was in a dark study, Tom was speaking to her in Parseltongue…she was crying on her bed, covered in blood…

Ginny was again on the ground sobbing, she vaguely registered that someone was screaming. Her throat ached and she realized it was her screaming, and she stopped abruptly. Her head was pounding, her brain seemingly splitting inside her skull. Her eyes were strained by tears, her lungs bursting as she cried. Snape was coldly observing her from his desk, uncertain on what action to take.

"Didn't know you had those memories, Weasley?"

"No," she gasped, still in a heap on the floor. She had not tried to stand or even move significantly yet.

"That's how you learned the spell. You likely know more," he said bluntly. "This time, it hurts more because I was looking specifically for those memories that your subconscious had sealed away."

Ginny in that second hated Snape more than she could think possible of herself. She ground her teeth and bitterly spit out, "We're done now! I can't take anymore of this tonight."

She had expected Snape to bristle at that, maybe even dock points from Gryffindor, but she hadn't expected him to approach her and lift her to her feet. He put a hand on one of her shoulders, "That is plenty for tonight. You did —much better— than what I expected. For a Gryffindor, and a Weasley at that, you are a very …acceptable… witch."

Ginny could've laughed at the twisted compliment. She wondered if Snape had ever paid anyone such a kind statement. It must be a rare thing coming from him. She wiped the tears from her face again, hiding a smile behind her sleeves. "Uh, thank you, Professor Snape."

He dismissed her after that, and Ginny turned to leave when a question struck her. "Professor?"

"Yes, Weasley?" he was at his desk recovering memories from a pensive. Ginny tucked this observation away.

"You said that you can look for specific memories?"

"That is correct."

"So, I'll be seeing a lot more of Riddle and the Chamber, won't I?"

Snape uttered something very like a sigh, "Yes."

"Heh. There's no avoiding him, huh?" and Ginny left back to her dorm, feeling utterly exhausted. She groaned thinking off all the work she had waiting for her back at Gryffindor Tower. She had been assigned an essay on the Sardinian Sorcerers Treaty of Trurdolf in 1238 by Professor Binns, on top of charts of Jupiter's moons for Astronomy, and a Latin list of verbs and various forms of which are used in common spells. "Latin's such a waste…"

"So true."

"Man, I wish I hadn't taken it."

"Same here."

"Can't imagine what posses…" Ginny stopped short. She turned to find Blaise Zabini standing next to her. "GAH!"

"Well, it's nice to see you too, Weasley…" Blaise said, his mouth quirking.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not bothering to conceal her annoyance.

"My dorm is kind of in the Dungeons, Ginny."

"Oh, well, yes, but what are you doing out at a time like this? It's nearly nine. You'll get in trouble," Ginny said matter-of-fact-ly sticking her nose up a little more than normal.

"Yes, but I'm not the one several floors from her common room, am I?"

Ginny mentally slapped herself and had the grace to blush, "Oh damn! You're right, I have to get back or else Filch'll have my head. Lousy good-for-nothing… I have to go."

"I know, but I'm glad we're back on speaking terms." Blaise leaned against the stone wall. "Why are you down here, Ginny?"

"Extra lessons from Snape." She wasn't exactly lying.

"Lessons for what?" he persisted.

"Umm, well I just need some help on a few things…ya know?"

"Yea well, listen. I know why you're really down here. And you need to hurry up, Ginny. There's not much time for you—" he was thoughtful for a pause, "Or me."

"Huh?" Ginny was taken aback at this, Blaise had a way of doing that to her.

He pushed off the wall and walked away from her and waved a hand in a goodbye, "You'll figure it out sooner or later."

October had arrived, and with it came rain, high winds, cold temperatures and mud. Too much mud, as Filch would constantly remind the students whenever they came in the front doors. The Quidditch season had come too, and every time Ginny saw Oliver Wood a very guilty shadow fell over her. If only she had been able to fight off Riddle, maybe Wood could have led the Gryffindor team to a Quidditch Cup victory. Wood was oblivious to the fact of her involvement, however, and seemed completely focused on winning the Cup this year.

Instead of Quidditch practices in the evening, as Ginny would have preferred having, she was stuck in the Dungeons with Snape. Occlumency lessons had improved little from their first meeting. However dutiful she may be every evening by trying to empty herself of emotions, Ginny was finding each night to be more enduring than the previous. It was the last week of the month when she finally resolved to ask him about it before her lesson one evening.

"Professor," she tried, sounding more timid than she would have liked. Snape merely glared in response. "I was wondering, I mean, you know that I'm working at this. That I am trying to do my best, but I —why isn't it _working_?"

"What do you mean by that, Weasley," Snape was making it to be that he was bored, but his eyes had narrowed slightly as he shuffled through the papers on his desk.

Ginny hesitated, not exactly wanting to have this conversation with Snape, no matter if he saw some of her worst memories. "I can remember more now, Sir. But, I don't want to. How is resurfacing these thoughts helping me? I thought these lessons were supposed to help get Riddle out of my head, but all I do is think about him now, when I wake, when I go to bed, when I sleep —" she stopped herself at this point, hearing the hysteria creeping into her voice. Her lip trembled, and Ginny loathed how much of a baby she could be at times.

"Because that is what I want as of right now," Snape said off-handedly, straightening the papers before standing up.

Ginny went from worried to livid in a second. She wrapped her fingers around her wand and clutched it until her knuckles went white. She took several calming breaths, and then tried to speak without loosing her cool. "Fine," was all she managed as she glared daggers at her teacher.

"Good then, ready?" he didn't wait for an answer. "_Legilimens!_"

Two and half hours later found the pupil and master thoroughly exhausted and frazzled. Ginny was shooting icy glances at the Potions professor in between tending the purple bruises on her knees and the blue bruises on her palms. She had repeatedly been thrown at the ground after Snape had probed her mind again and again. She was about to say that this was the last round when he caught her off guard with another _Legilimens_.

What happened next, neither Ginny nor Snape could quite grasp. She was standing at window, watching the snow covered crowds meander by…she was walking up the steps of Hogwarts greeted by a younger Albus Dumbledore…she was cutting her wrist, pouring her own blood into a cauldron…she was tearfully gripping onto a dark haired woman's robes as she was turning to leave…she was turning to look in a mirror, an image of Tom Riddle admiring his Prefects badge staring back at her…

Ginny collapsed, yelling into the floor. Laughing and screaming as she cradled her head in her arms, not remembering having gotten to the floor. It took her many minutes to calm down and catch her breath. The feeling of immense pride in herself and power had finally ebbed away.

A groan from somewhere to the left of her snapped Ginny to full attentiveness. Snape was buried beneath several shatter shelves and contents, spots of blood scattered on the stone behind him. Ginny stumbled to her feet, not concealing the terror in her voice as she called to the professor.

"Shut it, Weasley and repair the damn shelves already," Snape said, sounding eerily calm for someone being squashed.

"_Reparo!_" Ginny watched as the shelves sprang back to the wall, their contents flying together once more, rearranging themselves. Snape remained lying down, the blood streaming from numerous gashes on his arms. He blinked his eyes open and leaned forward, observing his wounds. "Well, that was unexpected."

She may have laughed at this scenario if it wasn't actually happening. Ginny stepped to help the Professor up, which proved to be difficult due to the fact he towered over her. "I — I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to — I didn't even know I could!"

Snape cleaned out his cuts, "None are too deep, I will keep pressure on them until they can be properly treated." He sighed, "You did not do this Weasley. The person responsible for this is none other than the boy that those memories you saw belong to."

"Riddle did this?" Ginny faltered as her eyes roamed over the many cuts and bruises on the professor's arms.

Snape had finished applying makeshift bandages and had moved onto repairing the holes in his robes. "It would appear that way."

"And?"

"And, what? We'll continue the lessons as planned, and I'll need a word with the Headmaster to see if we should go deeper into other branches of Occlumency…"

Ginny was trying to follow what Snape was saying, but the poundings of her brain and heart were too loud to ignore. She moaned and rubbed at her aching head.

Snape merely glared at her, and she waited to be told off for ignoring him, but it never came. "You are dismissed for tonight, Miss Weasley. We'll meet tomorrow as always," he turned and left to his private room, leaving Ginny standing in the room alone.

She was on her way out when a vial in one of Snape's open drawers caught her eye. She walked closer to get a better look. She could've sworn it said…

"Lupin?" She peered at the label on the glass. _'Lupin: October'_ it read in very scratchy penmanship. Ginny replaced the bottle, wondering what it could possibly mean. She shrugged and left for the Library.

Ginny found a secluded table in the Library where there was a semicircle outcrop along the back wall that was hardly used. The stained glass windows did not provide the best reading light, but she thought they were beautiful nonetheless and liked sitting beneath them. She took off her robes and rolled her shoulders. She straightened out the wrinkles in her blouse and skirt. _Ugh, what a night…_

Settling her texts in an orderly fashion, she noticed she would need a more specific book for a Potions essay Snape had assigned her for extra credit. _Bloody git is just testing how far I can go before I crack_, Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes.

The Potions section of the Library was dark and dreary, much like the subject Ginny thought. She was scanning over the titles when someone shoved her to the ground.

"Better off down there with the filth. You fit in better, Weasel," sneered the voice of Draco Malfoy. He was standing in the aisle with the air of someone who owned the Ministry. He managed to look ominous even with a sling tending one of his arms. Ginny ground her teeth and glared at him as she got to her feet.

"Get a life Malfoy, instead of getting high from ruining mine," she said bitingly, once again straightening her clothes.

His eyes narrowed to slits and he grabbed Ginny's shoulder, digging his finger tips into her skin. Ginny tried not to flinch at the pain, and slapped him. Her hand connected with his face with a resounding clap. Malfoy let go of her shoulder, not turning his face back to her for a very drawn moment. When he did, his eyes were closed, but his face was slack. He did not even look angry, and this unsettled her slightly.

His eyes opened slowly, and Ginny caught a surprised cry in her throat. Draco Malfoy's eyes were empty. In them she saw no hint of emotion. They were just _empty_. His voice cracked when he spoke, "I deserved that."

"You did?" Ginny's mouth formed an 'O' shape. "You _did_."

"Then why so surprised?"

"Because you realized that you deserved it…"

Malfoy leaned back on the opposite row of books. He swept his hair back and cradled his arm, considering it quietly. His brows furrowed. Ginny wondered if she could just grab her book and leave. But Malfoy chose then to speak—

"I hate you."

Ginny was not surprised at this statement coming from him, but was ashamed to find that she was hurt by the comment. She mirrored his stance and thoughtful expression. "Is that all?"

"No."

"Oh."

"I hate your family. Everything it stands for." He said this as if he were discussing the Quidditch playing conditions.

"Well, no offense, but I kind of already got that vibe coming from you… So…"

"But," Draco raised his eyes to her and glared with loathing, "I hate you alone more. You waste day and night trailing the Golden Trio and that bloody Saint Pot-head, when you could do so much _better_."

"I don't _trail_ my brothers or his friends! I've barely even seen them—" But Malfoy paid no heed to her protests as he was caught up in his words.

"I noticed you last year. _I _saw what was happening to you. Not Potter. Not your dim brothers. Not the know-it-all Granger. But _I_ did."

"Uh, maybe that was because it was your father that gave me up to Riddle," Ginny seethed back, but Malfoy was shaking his head.

"I didn't know, Weasley. But I did figure it out —"

"So you did know?" Her eyes widened. Was he lying? "Why… Why didn't you do something?"

Malfoy drew his gaze away from her and squinted down the dark aisle of books. He fidgeted, "Because I couldn't do anything. My father would have known immediately. My father —"

"Your father, _what_, Draco?" she had never used his first name before. It was like rubbing dirt on her tongue. She glared up at him, suddenly aware of how petite she actually was. "So?"

Malfoy frowned and turned to her, his eyes like ice. "Why didn't you just die, Weasley." He managed it as a statement.

"Did you want to help me?" Ginny asked quietly.

"I didn't know you, and I certainly didn't care."

"Then why all this?"

"Hey!" someone called in a stage whisper. Ginny and Malfoy turned to find Ashlyn Wischard some twenty feet away. She had her wand raised and pointed at Malfoy. "Back off, jerk. Or I'll hex you to next week!"

Malfoy said nothing but started towards Ginny. She dodged him, thinking he meant to attack, but he merely selected a book from the shelf and left without a second glance.

Ashlyn ran swiftly to Ginny, a concerned look on her face. "I tell you I could smell that jerk bothering you," she panted, grimacing as she clutched at her side.

"Geez, maybe you should exercise a bit more, Ash…" Ginny had turned from watching Malfoy's retreating back to greet her friend.

"Heh, it's not that, I just don't feel so great right now. But, if you're alright, Ginny, I'm just going to get back to finding that book I need. Later!" Ashlyn was gone as fast and erratically as she had come. Ginny shrugged and found the book on the Draft of Concealment and walked back to her seat.

Seventeen inches into the essay, Ginny was glad to find she was nearly done. "Just a quick note on the remedy and a conclusion paragraph should do it!" she exclaimed proudly.

"Bugger, we didn't even cover the Draft of Concealment until last year!" Ginny started.

"Fred!"

"Ginny!"

"George!"

"Gred?" one of the twins faked shock and started to tear.

"Forge? Man, I thought I'd never see you again!" they embraced one another, making a huge fuss and muttering theatrical nothings to each other.

"Will you two shut up?" Ginny made a quick scan for Madame Pince with her eyes, but saw that they were quite alone so she continued writing.

"No, but honestly Ginny, why has Snape got you doing this?" Fred peered over her shoulder. He scanned the heading and ushered an exaggerated gasp, "Extra credit? Since when are you a miniature Percy?"

"Seriously, this better not be the makings of a Head Girl here," George warned as he ruffled her hair affectionately. Ginny swatted at his arms, only managing in frizzing her hair more. She giggled.

"Well, how about you guys? I didn't even know you came to the Library," she laughed out.

Both had a mock expression of deep offense on their faces. "Ginny, Ginny, Ginny! Do you not realize this is our O.W.L. year? We need to study, study, study!"

"Uh huh," her mouth quirked, "Here to look up stuff for your concoctions, are you?"

Fred and George grinned and nodded their heads enthusiastically.

"Riiight, well, I'm off," Ginny rolled up her parchment and gathered her things back into her bag. "I've missed dinner, either of you have food on you?"

"Sorry, Gin."

"Nothing here," Fred emptied his jean pockets, a slip of paper was all its contents. "Oops, mustn't lose Angelina's no — er — order form…"

George and Ginny shared an amused look.

The castle was eerily quiet on the inside, but the noise from the storm outside was echoing through the empty halls. It was study hours still, and all the students but herself were either in the Library, the Great Hall, or their dormitories. Ginny listened to the click of her heels distractedly, staring at her feet.

Instead of returning straight to the tower, she stopped by the kitchens and had the house elves give her some food, which they were happy to do. She again left the dungeons, vaguely disappointed that her bed was still many floors above her. Ginny let her mind wander as she ascending a staircase.

The thoughts about the Occlumency lesson earlier came unwanted. She tried very hard each day to not think about them, or Riddle, or the Chamber, or any stupid spell related to any of the aforementioned things. But her anger at Snape prevented her from closing away any thoughts. Was he actually _trying_ to get Riddle to surface in her? How was this helping her? And what if Riddle was able to posses Ginny again, and do more unthinkable things to innocent people? What if, what if he was able to have power over her again, and she wasn't able to regain control. What would happen to her mind? Would she fade away into nothing…?

Ginny stopped, and with it the steady click of her heels. Except, the clicking didn't stop. She looked up and immediately knew something was wrong. This wasn't the fifth floor landing…The clicking behind her paused.

She slowly turned to find what it was behind her, the roll in her hand being squished as she gripped her fingers instinctively. Ginny had her eyes scrunched closed tightly by the time she had turned around fully. Something was breathing heavily just a few paces ahead of her. She began opening her eyes very carefully; not really wanting to find what it was waiting in front of her. The hallway was very dark, and she could just make out a shape of a —

"Oh, a dog!" Ginny said happily under her breath as she kneeled down to eyelevel with it. She cooed, "Here puppy, here boy…"

The dog's silver eyes were on hers, but soon fell to the food in her hand.

"Hey, I have more in my bag," Ginny unlatched her bag and removed the bundle of food the house elves had given her. Unwrapping it, the aroma of warmed turkey and smoked ham sandwich wafted out and the dog whimpered pleadingly. "It's nothing glamorous, but you can have some." she tore a piece off and held it out, "Go on, it's good, I promise. The food here is great."

The dog hesitantly came forward, sniffing the air. He reached her hand and licked the food, its tail wagging. Ginny continued taking pieces of the sandwich off, forgetting her own hunger, happy to feed the dog.

"How'd ya get it here, boy? Belong to one of the teachers maybe? Are you Lupin's?"

The dog seemed to pause in mid-bite. He blinked at her and continued chewing.

"The name's familiar, eh?" Ginny pushed the rest of the sandwich forward and lifted her hand to the dog's ears. She let them rest there to see if it was ok, and when there was no objection to this action, Ginny scratched them. She slid into an Indian pretzel and continued petting the dog as it wagged its tail some more and laid down resting its head on her knee. "You're adorable! Usually I'm a cat person, sorry to say, but it's kinda hard not to be drawn to you. I wish I had met you earlier in fact, you're really cheering me up. I've been through a lot lately. What with Occlumency lessons and Snape every night, school work, and not to mention the fact that the young Dark Lord has taken residence in my head. Sorry if I'm ranting…but man, this whole thing is just…"

The dog titled its head at her, questioningly.

"Yea, I know, weird, but, here, it all started last year with this Diary that Mr. Malfoy —_creep_— gave me, I thought it was really neat, and didn't know who it was from. So I spent half the year writing to this Diary, because it wrote back to me. I thought it was wonderful. The Diary was a real friend to me when no one else seemed to notice I existed. My own family, my brothers on the whole ignored me. I was so lonely, and the Diary was there to comfort me and just to talk to me. I told it everything…

"But, with every time I wrote in it, I gave a little bit of myself away. A little piece of my soul was unknowingly giving strength to the memory of a sixteen year old boy who had trapped himself in the Diary in order to reemerge years later. The boy was Tom, future-to-be-You-Know-Who, and I had been enchanted by how charming he was, how much he _cared_. But he didn't really care for me, he was using me. Using me to petrify muggle-born's, innocent kids. There was a larger goal in Tom's mind though…Harry Potter."

The dog shifted its head into her lap, staring up at her alertly.

"Tom took me down into the Chamber of Secrets, hoping to entice Harry down there to save me. Which of course, Harry did, he came to save me. Mostly because he felt bad for his best friend, my brother Ron. Harry's like that, ya know? He puts everyone ahead of himself." Ginny sighed admiringly as the dog wagged its tail, "He defeated Tom. And we all thought Tom was gone. Even Dumbledore assured me there was no lasting damage… But he was mistaken as it turns out."

The dog's ears dropped.

"Yup, turns out that Tom had a plan incase the first one fell through. When the Diary was destroyed, Tom allowed his being to be sucked right into my head. So, for the past couple of months he has been lingering back there, to my complete unawareness. Except now he's starting to gain back a little bit of control, which is why I'm now in Occlumency lessons. I thought they were supposed to help me fend off Tom, but instead Snape is trying to draw him out, let him take control of me first, then we get rid of him. Or something like that."

Ginny shifted her legs out from under her and laid parallel to the dog, still stroking his head. She leaned her face to its, closing her eyes tiredly, "You have no idea how lucky you are…"

If dogs could laugh, Ginny was quite sure this one just had. It licked her face relentlessly, its tail thumping happily. Ginny laughed quietly, now scratching its belly.

"I've never seen you around before, do you live here? But you don't seem to be eating that well right now." Ginny frowned at the ribs that were very apparent on the dog's chest. "Hey, how about I come here every night after lessons and give you some food? Sound good?"

The dog blinked at her and then stood up. Ginny watched as it padded to a window and nudged the glass with its nose. She stood and followed it.

"So you don't normally stay inside, huh? You're just in because of the storm. Makes enough sense. So, whenever the weather is good, I'll bring food to you outside. Otherwise we'll meet here."

The dog blinked and wagged its tail in agreement.

"Never met an animal quite like you before, it's like you can understand every word I'm saying."

Ginny could have sworn it nodded its head at that.

"…Well, alright then. Since I can see where you keep your brain, I guess I can trust you." Ginny kneeled down and hugged the bear-like dog, stroking its fur contentedly. Her watch face glowed happily up at her and Ginny gasped. "Oh crap, it's almost midnight! Man, time around here just doesn't add up…"

The dog sighed as it sat back on the floor and buried its face behind a paw.

"Nah, it's not your fault at all. This was great, meeting you. You can't possibly know how much you've helped me," Ginny said as she hugged the dog again. "So, just remember our plans, we'll meet here every night, or if it's good weather, we'll meet outside."

The dog nodded its head and walked with Ginny as she got her book bag and rolled up the linen towel that had held the food and tucked it away with her books.

"Man, you are so lucky. Not having to worry about anything but getting a good meal." Ginny scratched its ears as the dog gave her a very sad look. "Don't worry we'll see each other again tomorrow night. Promise."

Ginny waved goodbye as she retraced her steps until she knew where she was again, and made her way back to Gryffindor Tower. Sleep had not come so peacefully as it did that night in many months.

**Author's note**: Hope ya'll like it! I'll have the fourth chapter out soon. One review would be so niiiice.


	4. Scruffy

**Author's note**: WOW. I mean, I got reviews, and alerts, and favorites! Awesome! Thank you all so much! Just a reminder, things may seem a bit impossible in my story, but that's why it's a fanfiction:-) I'm trying out a new divider with this chapter, since my other ones haven't shown up in the others. So, yea, if it doesn't work, I'll just keep resubmitting it with something else. Heh, and I am still working on the indent thing…maybe if I tried double 'tab'ing it…

Halloween was one day away, and Ginny was positively bubbling with holiday spirit. She had missed the Halloween feast last year, but had heard from her brothers that the Great Hall is always decorated fantastically, and even the food was festive. The second years were not invited to the Hogsmeade visit, but she had decided to spend the day with Scruffy, she had nicknamed the dog, and for once was not disappointed that she would not be able to tag along with the Trio.

The last lesson of the day, another class of Defense Against the Dark, had just ended and Ginny was busying herself with putting away her things after the other students had filed out.

"Ginny?" it was Lupin.

She turned smiling to him, "Hello Professor, awesome lesson today! I never knew bewitched knives to do so many things…kinda creepy, huh?"

He laughed and leaned against a desk, "I suppose. I once knew someone who had a knife that could unlock any door."

"Really, who?"

"A very old friend, he's —gone, now. But Ginny, I just wanted to check up on your progress in Occlumency."

"Oh," Ginny let her shoulders sag. The last few lessons hadn't gone so well, according to Snape. Riddle had yet to re-emerge, and Snape had been pushing Ginny harder and harder in hopes of getting him back. "Well, they've been really tough lately, honestly. Professor Snape is a bit frustrated; he says I'm not trying hard enough. Wait, no, he says I'm not trying…smart enough? Says I'm going about the lessons the wrong way. He just doesn't communicate very well, and I'm confused as to what exactly I should be doing. I've been having Occlumency for two months now, and there's been little progress."

"When do you have it tonight?" he asked quietly.

"Four thirty, just like every other night."

"That's twenty minutes from now," Lupin's eye brows were knotted. "Are you able to eat? How long are you down there for?"

"Eh, a good while. But don't worry, I go to the kitchens and get food afterwards. The house elves are great here, always happy to give me food."

"What about your work? You're doing exceptionally well in my class, but what about Charms, Transfiguration..?"

"Fine enough, I assume. I mean, none of the teachers have had to talk with me about my grades." Ginny was worrying now if she'd have enough time to make it to her room and then back to the dungeons. As much as she liked Lupin as a teacher, he was holding her up. He seemed to sense this however and dismissed her.

Ginny had managed to change, pick up the books she needed for after Occlumency, and freshen up all in time to make it to the Potions classroom with two minutes to spare. She walked into the classroom unannounced as usual, but was surprised to find Lupin there with Snape.

"…needs a break now and then, Severus." Lupin was saying when she entered. He stopped and smiled at her. "Professor Snape has agreed to let me stay for your lesson tonight Miss Weasley, if it's alright with you?"

She nodded mutely and dropped her bags in the normal seat before walking in front of Snape.

"Well then, let us go," Snape said, eying Lupin with a clear expression of annoyance on his face. "_Legilimens!_"

Ginny was sure the second the spell hit her that this time it was different again. She was in the Headmasters office, talking to a funny looking old man, who she knew to be named Dippet…She was taking the Potions O.W.L. exam, smirking as she completed making the perfect Dexterity Potion…Pouring a vial of black liquid into a plain diary where it was soaked up and an invisible hand was pulling out a shadow of her dark soul, binding it inside the book…

Ginny was laughing hysterically, tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were wide open as the room swam back into focus. She was pushed against the far wall, her knees buckled beneath her. The laughter slowly died and she was able to take in Snape's condition. His robes were smoldering, a light green smoke steadily rising from them, his face sooty. Lupin was repairing some shelves and desks, his eyes wide and unbelieving.

"More practice needed, huh?" Ginny rasped.

"It seems so," Snape answered, a sad smile tugging at his lips as he patted out his robes.

"Well, again then," she said struggling to her feet and brushing off a layer of dusty residue that had landed on her. The Potions Professor nodded.

Lupin spun to face Severus, "Again? Severus, for god's sake, look at her! At least give her a moment to breathe—"

"That's enough, Lupin. You agreed to observe, I don't recall anything about having to listen to you make worthless comments." Snape closed any further debate from Lupin, who seemed to be biting his tongue to keep from talking. "One, two, three…_Legilimens!_"

After three other attempts, the spell hit Ginny. A feeling she had never quite had before came over her, it was as if she had pleasantly detached from her body and was merely a spectator in the back of her mind. She watched as she raised her wand at Snape and shot a Blistering hex at him before summoning a magical barrier. "_Well, well if isn't the slimy Potions Professor. How are you these days, Severus?"_

Snape ignored the smoldering sore on his shoulder, "Better than you, I assume Riddle. Living off the soul of a twelve year old girl, what a glorious life you lead."

"_This is merely temporary. She'll be dead before long, and I will have regained my physical self again."_ Ginny smirked, _"Let's have some fun, shall we?_ Crucio!_"_

Snape managed to dodge the spell, but was knocked to the ground by the debris from the hole in the wall it had caused.

Ginny was delighted, and sneered, but stopped when she was knocked backwards and suddenly bound by numerous cords. "_What the hell is this?"_

Lupin stepped in front of her, his wand still held up defensively. He was torn between glaring and looking sympathetically at Ginny, "Ginny, I know you're in there…it's time to come back now…"

Ginny was quite happy where she was, tucked away and safe. "_Go scr—_"

"Ginevra, you can hear me. It's me, Professor Lupin. Please come back now."

He sounded so sincere, "Professor?" Ginny blinked her eyes.

"Over here, you dimwits!" Lupin pulled Ginny to her feet before rushing to find Snape. She followed obediently. Snape was leaning against a cabinet, nursing his wound. "This one can't wait, unfortunately. I'll need to see Madam Pomfrey about it."

Lupin helped Snape up as well, who almost looked as if he'd have rather stayed on the floor than touch the other professor. Snape sent him a scathing look before telling them both to get out of his classroom, in a more unpleasant manner, of course.

Ginny did not need to be told twice and ran to get her stuff, Lupin trailing her as she left.

"I swear his temper hasn't changed in twenty years," Lupin smiled half-heartedly. He looked at Ginny oddly.

"I'm fine, really," she answered him without being asked. His concern was written all over his face. "Riddle has receded again, for now. He will not resurface until next lesson. Snape says he shows himself only because the Legilimency affects him sometimes as well…Today was likely the most progressive lesson in awhile."

Lupin was thoughtful at this, his hands buried in his pockets.

"Want to come with me to the kitchens?" Ginny asked abruptly, an idea popping into her head.

"But, dinner has already begun, why not just go to the Dining Hall?"

"Just trust me," she smiled and started towards the kitchens, suddenly feeling very light on her feet. She arrived shortly at the painting of a bowl of fruit. She tickled the pear and wrenched open the handle that had materialized. A house elf appeared immediately at her side.

"Out early today, Miss?" it squeaked up to her happily.

"Yup, and I have a friend with me, if you don't mind," she looked behind her to see the Professor resting on the frame of the painting door.

"'Course not, Miss!" the house elf chirped merrily before bustling off to find some food. It returned quickly with another elf, each holding a considerably sized bundle of food. Another came forward with a canister of hot tea.

Ginny took all of this with a number of thanks before walking back to Lupin. He offered to carry a bundle and the canister of tea, arguing that she already had a book bag. Ginny shrugged and led the way down the corridor.

After a while of silent walking Lupin asked, "Where are we going?"

"To meet a friend of mine," Ginny chimed pleasantly. Maybe Lupin could take the dog in, and then Scruffy could live in the castle all the time. She was almost skipping now that they were nearly to the spot she and Scruffy always met.

"Who is this friend?"

"Scruffy."

"Uh…well, that's a…nice…name." Ginny could tell Lupin was trying to pin the name to a person.

"No, heh, you don't understand Scruffy," Ginny slowed to a stop, "Isn't here."

Lupin stopped besides her scanning the hall for any movement.

"That's odd, he usually knows if I am coming early or late. Don't ask me how he does it…"

"What is Scruffy, Ginny?" Lupin was trying to appear disinterested, but his eyes gave way to the seriousness of his question.

Ginny opened her mouth to tell him that Scruffy was a dog, when something stopped her. _Lie_, a voice said very clearly in her head. She stammered, "A–a cat. Scruffy is a homeless cat. I was hoping you could take care of, take care of her for me. I come here to feed her every night. I feel bad because there aren't many mice for her to eat in the Castle, and I hate to think she has to kill birds for food."

Lupin nodded slowly, his eyes piercing into hers. They flashed quickly, and Ginny could have sworn they were amber, if only for a split second. "I'm sorry Ginny, I'm allergic to cat dander, so keeping one wouldn't be such a good idea."

"Oh," Ginny felt very awkward all of the sudden. "Maybe, maybe another professor then."

Lupin smiled and reached a hand to her shoulder, "Don't worry, I know how much you like cats. I'll ask the staff if anyone is interested—"

"No, no," she said quickly, "Actually, don't worry about it. I'll just ask Ron to see if anyone in town could own her. Heh, she probably just comes here because I give her food. Ya know, someone probably already owns her, I probably didn't notice a collar on her because she has really —scruffy— fur. Yep, heh."

Lupin looked unconvinced, but didn't push anything. "I should go, Miss Weasley. I'm expecting a delivery tomorrow, and need to prepare my office for the new comer."

"A newcomer?" Ginny hid a frown at his sudden formality.

"Yes, a grindylow will be taking up residence in my classroom tomorrow afternoon. I should find a suitable tank for it tonight."

"Yea, I'd expect so…" Ginny was very quiet.

"Don't stay down here too long."

"I won't. Good night, Professor."

"Good night," Lupin smiled and walked away down the corridor. Ginny watched as his figure got smaller and smaller and finally moved out of sight. When she was sure he was long gone, she sighed and flopped to the marble floor.

A soft clicking of dull claws snapped Ginny's head up. She smiled at Scruffy, "Hey boy, where have you been? I brought a friend here to meet you…"

Scruffy looked at her, his head titled skeptically. He let out a very confused whine of a bark.

"Don't worry. He's a really good guy. I trust him," Ginny said, her words getting softer by the second. She felt guilty suddenly, "Maybe I should have asked you first. I'm sorry."

Scruffy just padded towards her and dropped down next to her, resting his head in her lap like usual.

"I didn't tell him about you, really," Ginny scratched Scruffy's ears absently. "I lied to him, actually. I can't really explain it, but I _heard_ someone tell me to lie about you. It was so odd…but then again, I guess I _am_ notorious for hearing strange voices in my mind telling me what to do, huh?" She laughed uncertainly.

Scruffy twitched his ears, and Ginny noticed he was drifting to sleep. As if contagious, her eyes felt heavy with sleep as well. She leaned her head on Scruffy's back, "No one will mind if I just rest for a minute…"

Ginny dreamed she was in the Library. Oliver Wood was trying to teach her how to throw a teddy-bear shaped quaffel through a goal post made of bubbles without popping any of them. Harry was there too, zooming around on a giant feather chasing a flying cupcake. Ginny decided not to play Quidditch anymore and to play with Scruffy instead. She leaned to pet him when Lupin came up to her in wearing violently violet robes telling her off for breaking a school rule and that she'd have to accompany him to the Ministry. Ginny looked around for Scruffy, who said, "_Jump on my back, we'll run away!_"…Lupin just waved sadly as Ginny turned from him. But Scruffy was already running from her…

Ginny felt a pair of hands lifting her upright, she moaned in protest. A nice warm spot had moved from under her, "Wheresissat?" she mumbled sleepily.

"_Shh…you should get back to your room, Ginny Weasley,"_ the hands left her arms and something clicked away, running from her. Ginny nodded blindly, not sure if she was really awake.

Not long after, Ginny sat bolt upright. She looked around frantically, finally having sense to check her watch. She slapped her forehead and groaned. It was ten o'clock. She was lucky that Filch hadn't already found her. Gathering up her things, she sprinted very quietly back to her dorm, making it to Gryffindor tower faster than had seemed possible. She said the password to the Fat Lady before she had even made it to the portrait completely and clambered through the door without looking back. The common room was still filled with students, none of whom were her brothers thankfully. She collapsed into bed without changing that night.

The next morning she joined Hermione, Ron, and Harry as they went down to breakfast. The sky reflected in the Dining Hall ceiling was a slightly cloudy blue, but was dry and sunny enough for Ginny. She was smiling happily to herself as she ate her toast and eggs, thinking of the food she could give Scruffy today.

"What are you smiling about, Gin?" George asked from next to her.

"You know me, I love Halloween is all!" she said, still smiling secretly to herself. He pulled on her ponytail, pretending to be innocently sipping from his orange juice. Ginny could play that game as well and tugged his ear while looking in the opposite direction and chewing at her toast.

"What a bum, wish you could come too, Ginny," Fred said as he stood to leave, "But there's only one way you could, and we're not ready to let go of it quite yet."

George cleared his throat loudly as he patted her on the head, "Later, kiddo." The twins filed out of the Great Hall behind the trio, joined by Lee Jordan.

Ginny finished up her breakfast as well, and trotted back to her bedroom to change. She found a comfortably worn in pair of flared jeans, a black polo, and a deep blue jumper to wear. She reset her ponytail, making sure to have it perfectly neat and messy at the same time. Ginny looked at herself in the mirror before putting on the same serpent necklace she had worn in Diagon Alley for Harry in the summer. She laughed at herself, happy, genuinely happy that she was going to see a dog for the day. She hopped down the stairs two at a time and swung through the portrait hole humming to herself.

Down in the kitchens a house elf, named Kindle, prepared Ginny a little sack of food and drinks, twittering about nothings as she did so. Ginny thanked the elf and made her way to the front doors.

Once outside she started towards the lake and a particularly welcoming Beach tree where she had always liked to sit under last year. She looked around for Scruffy as she put down the food. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly as she scanned around for the bear-like black dog. Ginny laughed aloud, she couldn't help being so happy right now. The weight of Occlumency, classes, Snape, Riddle, everything seemed to have just evaporated right off her shoulders.

She looked over the lake, spots of it sparkling in the sunshine and decided it could not hurt to walk around a little. Maybe he would find her sooner if she was out in sight. She pulled her jumper closer to her as the wind picked up.

The walk around the lake was much longer than it looked, and unfortunately Ginny had yet to spot Scruffy anywhere. She again clutched the jumper closer to her body, the temperature was dropping as she hit a remote niche in the lake's shore. She sang to herself, her spirits still high about the picnic lunch waiting for her under the Beach tree.

Ginny's foot crunched something, and she stopped to look down at what it was. She knelt on her knees and reached a hand out to feel a layer of frost covering the ground. Her breath left her in gray clouds.

"Oh crap," she sprang to her feet, fear suddenly descending on her like a heavy cloak. "Crap, crap, crap!"

She was in mid step to start running when she heard it. A long raspy breath. Ginny moved little by little to face the Dementor.

It stood at least two meters high, wearing layers and layers of what look like rotting gray cloth covering every inch of its body. It glided a few paces from her, coming closer. A pair of hands reached to its hood, decaying flesh and bones stretching forth to grasp the equally detestable fabric.

'_RUN!_' A voice echoed loudly in her head, Ginny snapped out of her frozen reverie. She stumbled backwards as a giant form leapt clear over her head and hurled itself at the dementor. Teeth bared and uttering horrible growls and barks, was Scruffy. The hairs on his back were standing on end as he settled himself between Ginny and the dementor, '_Go, go! Go back towards the castle now!'_

She started sprinting, her sneakers barely hitting the ground before they flew back into the air in another stride. She did not concentrate on her breathing, just running. Pushing through the cramps already starting in her side, Ginny kept moving her legs. She was almost to the Beach tree, just a bit further…

There was a terrible shriek from behind her and Ginny tripped, "Oh Merlin, Scruffy!"

There were distant crashes in undergrowth from where the cry had come from, Ginny willed the strength to push her body up and started back towards the rustling in the bushes. There was a trail of blood streaming down her chin from where she had split her lip open, but none of it mattered as she ran back to where the dementor and the dog were. She was back to a spot just before where the dementor had shown up. She stopped to catch her breath and listened for any movement. The bushes quivered.

Scruffy finally emerged from the underbrush, leaves, twigs, and weeds tangled in his fur. Ginny ignored all of it as she flung her arms around the animal, burying her face deep in his coat as she cried, "I left you! Oh god, I'm sorry…please, I'm sorry —thank you! You're an amazing, just an incredible—" Ginny was cut off by a shift in Scruffy. He was changing in her arms, his fur retreating into his skin, his paws changing to hands…Ginny's chest tightened, "An incredible _man_?"

She turned to see whether either of them was in view from the Castle. There seemed to be plenty of trees and bushes blocking them from sight though. Ginny remained with her face nestled in the curve of the man's neck and shoulder, supporting the weight of his torso and upper body altogether._ Scruffy is a man, Scruffy is a man, Scruffy is a man…_

"OK, just because man's best friend is actually a guy, doesn't mean that he hasn't still been there for me. And, and, he's always seemed too smart to be an ordinary dog anyhow. I can't believe I scratched his belly…"

The man wheezed out of nowhere, and coughed out, "Ginny, are you alright now?"

"Y-yes," she answered softly, not quite confident with her voice.

"The Dementor is gone for now…I chased it off."

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry," the man said in his rough voice.

Ginny clumsily rubbed at his back, not used to the feeling of cloth instead of fur. "You're sorry?"

"I don't mean to hurt anyone," he said through racking breaths.

"What?" Ginny knitted her brows, "Of course you don't, I've been with you plenty of times on my own and you've never done anything…why would you hurt anyone?"

"Get back to the Castle quickly. Don't look back," the man was speaking very fast now.

"Take the food from under the bronze Beach tree, it's for you," Ginny said equally as fast, Scruffy needed to eat whether he was a man or dog.

"Thank you," the man said faintly, "Thank you for being a friend to me when no one else would…"

Scruffy was changing again, he was a dog once more and licked her face and ear several times before bounding over her shoulder and off into the woods.

Ginny lifted a hand to her face absently, but didn't wait long before listening to his instructions and running back to Hogwarts as swiftly as she could.

She fell through the front doors, stumbling to the stairs, clutching at her side and mentally hitting herself for not getting enough exercise in her schedule.

"Weasley, perfect timing. Follow me," Snape had just walked down a staircase and was heading to the dungeons. Ginny groaned under her breath. "I said FOLLOW, Miss Weasley. By the way, there's blood on your chin."

Ginny snuffed out the string of unpleasant names she called Snape while rubbing the blood off her face. She stretched her back and legs before setting off after the Professor.

Walking behind Snape had an eerie feeling, as if the man were leading you to death. His brisk walk was an annoyingly fast pace, and the billowing robes almost tripped Ginny when she walked too fast and came too close to the Professor. Then there were the odd noises he'd make, and she wasn't sure whether he was just mumbling to himself, or if she should be paying attention. But paying attention to what he was saying was rather hard when Ginny was focusing on his oily hair and whether he used shampoo or not.

"Maybe it's gel…"

"What was that, Weasley?" Snape turned his head and cocked an eyebrow, his mouth crooked.

"Said that aloud, huh?" Ginny muttered as she smacked her forehead.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for your stupidity, Miss Weasley." He strode into his class, a smirk pulling at his lips. Ginny huffed.

She could see Snape, he was foggy, but she could definitely see him. She began to raise her wand to fend him off, but thought the better of it. "It's not working, is it?"

Snape dropped his wand, the same time Ginny's knees buckled and she hit the stone floor hard, again. There was the faintest of smiles on his face, but he seemed to remember who he was in company of and replaced it with a frown. "It would appear to be as so. Congratulations."

"Oh, yes! It's over, finally over. HA!" Ginny savored in the relief that swept over her. She hugged herself happily, bouncing slightly.

"Well, onto the next one then," Snape looked at the ceiling, tapping his hands distractedly on the surface of his desk. Ginny could almost feel the floor shake as her happy mood crashed.

"I-I'm sorry," she said in a painfully strained polite voice, "But, ah, what?"

Snape was looking around the room, almost nervous, if Ginny hadn't known better, "Well, you are able to throw off a Legilimens. Tom Riddle cannot read your thoughts any longer. Very useful that is, but now you must move onto the next branch of Occlumency."

"There's something else I have to be able to do?" she was aware her mouth was hanging open in indignation and snapped it shut.

"Don't take that tone with me, Weasley!" Snape bit out. "Implimency, is the ability to alter the feelings and memories from another person's mind. You are to learn how to fend off that as well. That is how Riddle controls you. So, we will be working on that next."

"Right now? But, the Halloween feast—"

"Can wait," he said impatiently. "Do you, or do you not want him out of your head, Weasley?"

She nodded dejectedly.

"That's what I thought…" he had his wand out again, "One, two, three…"

"Eek, stop! Stop!" Ginny said dodging behind a desk at the last second, not having to look at Snape to know he was trying very hard not to roll his eyes.

"Weasley…get out from under the desk." She could here the annoyed tone in his voice.

"Wait, I just want to know what the difference is between this, and-and the Imperius curse…" she said, poking her head out a little to smile at the Professor hopefully.

He lowered his wand, his eyes glittering with malice or amusement, she couldn't place, "You are a very —talented, student, Miss Weasley. It is somewhat reassuring to me as a teacher to see that you are trying to grasp the tenuous distinctions that separate things that others may see as one of the same." Snape looked, proud? No, must be a trick of the light— "Imperius is merely the physical actions of a witch or wizard being controlled. It can last for a day, a week, even years if strong enough. It is a very dangerous curse, and as you know is an Unforgivable. Implimency does share likeness with the Imperius, but its affects go much deeper into the victims mind. It changes the feelings, alters or erases the memories—"

"And you're about to try it on me?" Ginny frowned at Snape from behind her makeshift barricade of a desk.

He gave her a very funny look, as if he were debating whether to laugh or scowl. The scowl won, "Weasley, I assure you I will refrain from doing any permanent damage. You are one of the only Gryffindor's that I can stand to teach, after all…"

"You like teaching me?"

"Don't push it, Weasley."

She slid out from behind the desk, "Right…it was worth a try."

"No, I assure you it was not and never will be." Snape hid his face, as if not wanting her to see his expression. He coughed and straightened himself out. "Are you ready now, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny nodded, even though she hadn't the faintest idea of how she going to shield herself. Her stomach chose that moment to growl very loudly.

Snape snickered, not catching himself in time. He managed to twist it into a vain attempt at a coughing fit.

Ginny snorted, "It's not my fault I couldn't eat. _Someone_ decided to make me come straight to the dungeons before getting some food! And since when do you laugh?"

"That wasn't a _laugh_, Weasley. I was _cough_ing." he said patiently, as if explaining to a very dim child that the block goes in the square hole, and the sphere goes in the circular hole.

"Do you have any food?"

"WEASLEY," Snape said rubbing his eyes and sounding exasperated. "Please, concentrate on the task at hand."

"Alright, alright…"

"One, two, three… _Implimens!_"

Ginny's senses dimmed and the detached sensation swept over her again. A mellow feeling of complete lack of stress and control flooded her mind. This was slightly relaxing, hanging out at the back of her brain, not worrying…

There seemed to be a tugging in Ginny's head and she felt a sharp bang against her knees, "Ow, shoot!"

"Welcome back Miss Weasley."

Ginny climbed back to her feet, leaning on a desk for support. She looked around, "What's going on?"

"You can't remember?" a smirk flashed merrily over his face, "Can you even remember where you are, the date, year? Anything at all?"

"Y-yes, I guess I know where I am. And why," she rubbed at her temples and sighed. "I just don't know how I got _here_." She was standing next to the supplies closet.

Snape's face slacked, his smirk deflated. Guilt? No, must be gas. "That's the effect of Implimency."

"And why isn't it illegal, then?"

"It is." Snape frowned at her as if she should've known better.

"But, uh…you…then you just broke the law?" Somehow the idea of Snape doing something completely against the law didn't strike her as a surprise.

"There are wards at Hogwarts to prevent detection of the use of Occlumency. The founders obviously had something to hide," Snape shrugged and checked his wristwatch. "Time sure does fly…Four o'clock already, what a shame."

"FOUR?" Ginny's mouth went numb for a second, the gears in her brain slowly turning, "It was just noon a sec…" she gave Snape an accusing glare, "What did you have me do for that entire time?"

Snape studied his fingernails casually, "I needed some organizing done in the supplies closet."

It was true, as Ginny found out when she stormed over to the closest. The previously would-have-qualified-as-a-disaster-area closet, was now pristine and sparkling. She rolled her eyes and muttered, "Slave labor," loudly.

"However, in the —spare time— I had, I was able to review your paper on the Draft of Concealment. It was acceptable," he handed her the paper, which boasted an A, however small and crammed into the upright corner it may have been. "Since it was extra credit assignment, it will count as a homework grade for the term."

"A homework grade, but I worked on this for weeks!" outrage was an understatement.

"There will be no more discussion on this, Weasley. You are free to go…" he gathered a vial from his shelves and returned to his desk. He looked back up at her when she had not moved, "I said _leave_."

Ginny was all for standing there, glaring at him for hours while he tried to work, but decided against it, getting cleaned up for the Halloween Feast sounding more relaxing. She left the Professor to his own doings and returned to Gryffindor Tower for a shower and to unwind for awhile.

Hundreds upon hundreds of floating pumpkins, each carrying a red-glowing candle, a storm of live bats flying everywhere, and fluttering orange streamers, were only a few of the decorations in the Great Hall. Ginny giggled happily as she fastened her arms through Colin's and Sycamore's, they found seats at the top of table with the other second year Gryffindor's.

"Guess who I talked to today, guys?" Colin said excitedly as they sat down.

"Who?" Fides Winslow asked as she scooped food onto her plate.

"Harry Potter," he answered proudly, puffing his rather weedy chest out.

"Really, Colin? He's _so_ cute! What did you talk about? Did you see his scar? Aren't his glasses so adorable," one of Ginny's roommates blushed as she bombarded Colin with questions. Madeline Corial had not let the Heir of Slytherin title that Harry had earned last year discourage her overwhelming sense of adoration for him. Ginny rolled her eyes, _And people think I have it bad…_

"Well," Colin shied a bit, "We…_he_ didn't really say much. I asked him to sit with us, but he said he was busy…but I did see his scar! Harry is really something else. I just felt bad for him not being able to go to Hogsmeade with those other two people he hangs around with."

Ginny frowned, "Their names are Hermione and Ron, Colin. You know, Ron, the one with red hair and freckles? Last name Weasley? My brother…"

Colin shrugged his shoulders sheepishly.

"Augh," Fides stuck out her tongue. "I've heard enough about Harry Potter already. My dad works in the Ministry and all he ever talks about is Harry Potter and that Sirius Black character. It's enough to make anyone go mad…are you OK?"

Ginny had choked on her pumpkin juice, and took a moment to realize Fides had directed her last question at her and Ginny nodded her head, "It's just, you made me remember something my Dad said during the summer."

"Oh, and what's that?" Colin and everyone else were looking at her with curiosity written on their faces.

"Oh, well, uh…that Black was mad at him for, you know, uh," Ginny rubbed the back of her head and concluded lamely, "creating You-Know-Who's downfall…"

They all gave her a very bored look. Sycamore cleared his throat and changed the subject to The Scorched Tendrils, a wizarding band. But Ginny could care less as her mind was struggling to remember that summer morning…what had her parents said exactly?

"Oh no," Ginny was half way through dessert when it hit her. She knew the look on her face must not have been anything short of aghast as she stood from the table, each of her friends staring at her incredulously. "Umm…I forgot…something I had to do at the Library."

"But, Gin, the Library is closed…" Colin's voice was lost to her as she went out of the room.

When she got to the Library, it was as Colin said, locked up. Ginny shook her head, and pulled out her wand to unlock the door. _A little rule breaking never hurt anyone…_

"Last-minute studying?" she dropped her hand to her side as Professor Lupin strolled up to her. He smiled vaguely at her and leaned on the Library doors. His face fell, "Is everything alright, Ginny?"

She shook her head, "No, no. I just…remembered something my dad said this summer."

"What's that?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's about," Ginny felt her cheeks warm as her eyes came close to tears. Whether they were from frustration or worry, she couldn't tell. "Well, you know about Sirius Black, right?"

Lupin lost his balance and slid sideways on the doors. He straightened himself out and nodded. His expression darkened.

"It's just, he's after Harry and B-black be-tr-trayed his parents, Professor!" Ginny wiped at her eyes as the damn broke, "He-he's coming after Harry to k-kill him, after, since Y-you-Know-Who couldn't, a-and was defeated. Isn't he? Black m-must've tricked the P-potters into t-trusting him, and then he j-just handed them o-over…"

"So, why are you at the Library?" Lupin's voice was slightly strained. His hands had curled into fists. Ginny noted this but made nothing of it and looked back at the Library doors.

"Newspaper articles. F-from twelve years ago," her face set in a determined fashion.

"What are you hoping to find out?"

She wavered, "I d-don't know. Anything, t-to help Harry, I guess."

"Ginny," he smiled sorrowfully. "There's nothing in those articles that will help you. I'd know. I've looked through all of them myself."

"R-really? Why?"

"You're not the only one worried about him, many people are. More than he could imagine."

"Do they know why Harry's m-mum and dad trusted Black so much?" she knitted her brows, "That's what I'd like to know. H-how could they not see he was a t-traitor?"

"No one knows how he did it…he fooled a lot of people," Lupin sighed and rubbed at his temples. Ginny stared at him, hoping to prompt him to continue. He shook his head but said, "Come on, I'll walk you back to Gryffindor tower…"

Following Professor Lupin was much different than walking after Professor Snape. He had the air of someone who was leading you through an ancient tomb…like Bill. Ginny mused, or even some secret and highly important conference room in the Ministry. He was tall and slim and his robes were frayed and patched, but his stride was confident and paced. Then there was the fact he hummed, which was funny but made the atmosphere around him more comfortable to be in. And thankfully, the only mildly unfortunate characteristic of his hair were the silver streaks that highlighted it here and there. But some could argue that the gray locks only served to fit his sophisticated appearance. Lupin did not seem old, but the gray in his hair and the fine lines on his face gave him a grave underlining. She rubbed her eyes dry and wondered absently what may have caused them.

"Stress, maybe…"

"Yes, everyone back then was stressed, I suppose that could've clouded our perception of him," Lupin answered absently.

"What? Oh, I didn't know I said that aloud, I'm sorry…" she felt guilty for thinking about Lupin's hair when he was still brewing over Sirius Black. Noise from ahead of them made both stop. "What is that?"

"I don't know…" a worried look had crossed his face.

"I'll go see!" Ginny ran ahead up the staircase and saw a crowd surrounding the portrait entrance. She spotted Harry and went to his side, "What's going on?"

He looked at her, just as clueless and shrugged his shoulders. "Look, it's Professor Dumbledore…"

Harry was right as Dumbledore cleared his way through the jumble of students. Ginny fell into step behind McGonagall when she arrived with Lupin and Snape, the later sending hateful glances at the Defense professor. Ginny did a favor for Lupin and glared back at Snape in his place.

They had reached the portrait and Hermione gasped and latched onto Harry, who was still next to Ginny. When she saw what had happened as well, half her mind wanted to follow Hermione's lead and reach for Harry's hand. Thankfully, she was more awed than terrified. The Fat Lady's Portrait was lacerated violently, and its inhabitant had disappeared.

Dumbledore turned from the wrecked painting to see McGonagall, Snape, and Lupin, "We need to find her. Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

"You'll be lucky!" a cackling voice echoed from above.

The entire crowd looked up as one to find Peeves the Poltergeist gleefully zooming over their heads.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" Dumbledore's voice was calm, but the urgency was apparent in it all the same. Peeves' joyful attitude deflated a little. His mocking attitude seemed to adapt Snape's greasy voice that was no more attractive than the former.

"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he added as an unpersuasive afterthought, "Poor thing."

_Who did this, who?_ Ginny wanted to scream, but Dumbledore asked the Poltergeist for her.

"Oh yes, Professorhead," Peeves became very energetic, and more crazy than usual, his grin encompassing the entire lower portion of his face. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black!"

Several things happened at once; Neville feinted, Lavender Brown buried herself in Seamus' arms, Oliver wood yelled something about Quidditch not being cancelled because of this, Harry spun around quickly and bumped into a sixth year, who then stumbled backwards and hit Ginny, who unfortunately was backed against the stair railing at this point and felt herself bending backwards and her legs lifting from the ground.

Then there was Lupin who simply grabbed her arm and pulled her back forward, and down the steps with him. "Dumbledore will send all the students to the Great Hall, I want you to go there now, and _stay_ there Ginny. Don't go looking for Black. I need to go tell Harry that as well, but promise me you'll _stay in the Great Hall._"

Ginny watched him run back up the stairs, leaving her at the fourth floor. _The window…_She sighed and did exactly the opposite of what Lupin had told her. She dodged behind a tapestry as a group of teachers, Filch included, ran past her, obviously heading to find the Fat Lady. Ginny checked to see they were out of sight and ran to the far West Wing of the Castle.

It made sense now. Everything clicked into place. Why Scruffy had been in the Castle, him being a man…telling her he did not want to hurt anyone? That part maybe did not fit as well. He had to have known the Common Room would be empty, so why would he try to get in? Set a trap maybe, figuring it would be too risky to storm into the Great Hall with all the teachers there. However, Scruffy had told her he did not want to harm anyone. But he had torn apart at the Fat Lady, harm certainly intended. Her thoughts drifted off.

She had arrived at the window where she met Scruffy, or Sirius Black, as she was almost sure of now. Ginny did not have to wait long before the clicking of his claws tore her gaze from the storm that had started outside. She saw the innocently ruffled looking dog tilt its head at her, and she rolled her eyes back to the window.

"You're here to kill him, aren't you? And, I suppose you'll kill me too, now that I know who you are," Ginny said softly, quietly moving her hand to the wand in her pocket. The clicking behind her turned into the quiet padding of bare feet. She felt the wood in her palm, hexes spinning through her head.

"I'm not here to kill Harry, or you."

"How can I trust you when you say that?"

"Because you trusted me when I was Padfoot, and he's the truest form there is to me. But, I am here to kill someone tonight. And I'll remain around the Castle until he is gone for real this time—"

Ginny frowned at the window, her back still to the murderer behind her. "Dumbledore? You can't kill him, he's the most powerful wizard in the world, and even your Master V-vol…_You-Know-Who_, couldn't fight him—"

"You don't know what you're saying, Ginny!" his voice was quiet but cutting, Ginny heard him jerk forward, "_I would never serve him_! _Someone_ betrayed Lily and James Potter, but it wasn't _me._

"You're the only person I have right now. Ginny please, you believed in me when I was Padfoot, why would you stop now? Just because you know who I really am doesn't change the fact that I didn't harm anyone when I had plenty of chances to do so."

He took another step closer, "Do you know much about Animagi?"

"I know enough." She leaned closer to the window, still not looking at the man behind her.

"An Animagus can communicate telepathically while in animal form with someone they really trust, and have befriended. The thing is that they _cannot_ lie while doing it. It's a magical bond between the Animagus and the human they found who shares a connection with them."

"Telepathically? Then you're the one…" Ginny turned around to find Sirius Black as Scruffy-the-dog again. His silver eyes flashed from beneath shaggy bangs.

_Ginny, I'm telling the truth about Harry. I did not serve…You-Know-Who. Please continue trusting Padfoot, or, Scruffy as you've named me._ Ginny couldn't help but smile at that.

"I guess I do owe you for earlier, you saved my life… Alright, I trust you. I won't tell anyone about you, Padfoot." Ginny sighed, why is it she is always the one with a secret?

The dog shifted, and Ginny watched amazed as it changed to a man. She had only seen one Animagus shape shift, and that had been McGonagall last year.

Sirius Black looked nothing short of crazy. His raven hair was long and tangled. His silver eyes looked out from a handsome face that seemed as if life had been sucked out of it. The eyes themselves were the only things on his face that remained young. They were bright and alert, but in them there was a scar of mourning very deeply burned.

Ginny sobbed unexpectedly. And her arms found the waist of the withered man before her. "I'm sorry!"

"_Shh_…Look, I'm leaving for awhile now. I can't tell you where, but it isn't far. I won't see you again for awhile, I expect. But for right now, get to the Great Hall. That is where Dumbledore will take the students. I will soon be long gone. S_hh_, don't worry. Keep your chin up, Ginny. You're a great witch," he said quickly, rubbing her back gently before prying her off. He smiled at her and turned her in the direction of the Great Hall, patting her on the back.

She stepped forward, but looked back. Padfoot stood staring up at her, _Get down there, Ginny._

"Good bye," she said and started off, her eyes watering. She flew down the steps to the Great Hall, aware of each second passing, when finally she reached the entrance hall, which had darkened considerably, only spare torches were now lit.

Not much time had passed apparently, as just now the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins were being directed into the Great Hall. She mingled in the crowd, hoping to blend in the dim lighting so that no Gryffindor would see her, or that Lupin would spot her arriving late instead of early, as he intended for her. She was shoved around considerably, having landed in the middle of a group of excited upperclassmen.

"Weasley?" Ginny turned at the sound of her surname. Blaise Zabini was a few paces behind her. His disheveled hair and wrinkled clothes made her giggle and he took this as an invitation to walk besides her. "Wouldn't happen to know what's going on?"

"Kind of…" she looked at her hands. The thought of Scruffy ―Sirius― running around the castle with intentions of killing someone and the entire Hogwarts staff scurrying around trying to hunt him down was all rather dizzying in Ginny's head.

"I was in my quarters when Garroway started shouting at everyone to get to the Great Hall. Wonder what it's all about," he said as they finally got through the front doors. Someone shoved two purple sleeping bags into their hands and they were ushered off to the side. Ginny found Blaise's hand and they settled along the wall together. _His company is better than none_…

A silver-brown head bobbed through the crowd and maneuvered its way to them.

"Oh, Ginny! Thank Merlin I found you! Your brother Percy is having kittens about where you went—" Ashlyn had reached them and started talking immediately, before she spotted Blaise and Ginny, and more importantly their interlocking hands. "Err…are you feeling well?"

Ginny followed Ashlyn's eyes and quickly snatched her hands to her chest. "Yes. Come on, sit down..." she quieted her voice as Ashlyn lowered to her knees, "I mean, I can't stay here with a Slytherin the entire night."

"We're not all that bad…most of the time." Blaise said guiltily from Ginny's right. She shrugged her shoulders and smiled apologetically in his direction.

Ashlyn was frowning at Blaise, "Maybe I should just walk around with you until we find Percy, Ginny."

Ginny nodded and got up, "We'll be back."

"What are you doing with all these Slytherin's?" Ashlyn asked Ginny once they had reached a point where Blaise couldn't overhear them. "I mean, first those extra lessons from Snape, then confrontations with Malfoy, and now mysterious conversations with Blaise Zabini. This doesn't seem to fit you."

_You've no idea_… Ginny decided to avoid her friends questions and turn the tables, "Well, how about what's been up with you? You always appear so tired and sickly. I've yet to see you healthy looking once this year. Care to explain that? I'm really concerned."

They shuffled through throngs of students and their sleeping bags. Penelope Clearwater told them that Percy was across the hall with Professor Vector at the moment. Ginny and Ashlyn headed towards the staff table.

"So? Are you going to tell me what's been going on?"

"It's complicated," Ashlyn squinted at the floor for a moment. She looked up sighing, and said unexpectedly "Look, there's your brother."

Percy was puffing out his chest as he crossed to them, "Ginevra Molly Weasley!"

Ginny rolled her eyes at his exaggerated stage whisper, "I'm fine, Perce. I'm sleeping over there, by the door if you're wondering."

"Oh, no you are not. You'll be staying with Fred and George. Ron is with Harry and Hermione, but I am to make sure that you are with one of us at all times tonight. It would be best if you just stayed with the twins."

"And not get any sleep? No thanks, I'll be better off with Ashlyn and my own friends." She said goodbye to Percy and started back towards Blaise with Ashlyn. "What a waste of time. Sorry Ashlyn…Ash? What are you doing?" Ginny stopped short.

Ashlyn had frozen a few steps back, her back arched backwards awkwardly. Her eyes were wide and staring at the ceiling. Her hands were strained like talons. Then, it simply stopped, and Ashlyn shuddered forward and stumbled to Ginny, breathing a bit heavier than normal.

"About you explaining to me what is, and has been, happening with you?" Ginny pushed, her voice tightening. She held onto Ashlyn's arm to steady her.

"If you want to know, we're going to have to get out of here." Ashlyn said, scanning the large room and all of its hundreds of occupants. "Shouldn't be too hard to get out of here."

"Are you crazy? There's one exit and about four teachers guarding it." Ginny's voice was getting excited, and she was beginning to suspect that her friend was running a fever.

"You're wrong." Ginny felt her mouth drop. Ashlyn _was_ insane. "Oh, don't give me that look. I'm just saying that there's another way out of the Great Hall than the front doors. We're just going to need a little help to get through it."

"Help from who?"

"Not from _who_, but from _what_." Ashlyn dropped to her knees and dragged Ginny down with her. She looked around to make sure no one was watching them carefully. She held a finger to her mouth and Ginny's eyes popped as Ashlyn withdrew a very silky, thin cape from the inside of her robes. "I had this with me before we had to come down here."

"Why in the world would you need an invisibility cloak?" Ginny watched the sly smile spread across her friends face.

"There are so many secrets in this castle," was Ashlyn's only response as she swiftly covered both of them under the cloak. "Stay close and make sure your feet don't stray out from under the cloak, K?"

They crept through the rows of students and teachers, taking their time to calculate the best plans of movement. They made it all the way behind the staff table, where there was indeed a door. If it was an exit, Ginny didn't know. They started towards it when a voice came drifting through the slight crack in the wood.

It was Snape standing on the other side of the door. He seemed to be talking to someone, "…don't think I didn't recognize her, too. You're pathetic, grasping unto every last bit of your past life. Well, those days are over, and your _perfect_ friends are gone. _Gone_. Three dead, one insane, and another one…lost to you as well..." Snape was grinning, that much was evident in his voice, which had taken a sickeningly joyful tone in its hissed whisper.

There was no perceptible response, but Snape came bursting through the door and stomped over to where the students were sleeping. Ginny could see his hooked-nose silhouette peering over kids and snapping at them if they were still up. He moved farther away, still fuming.

Ashlyn tapped Ginny's shoulder and nodded that she was going to move to the door. They quietly turned the knob and checked the hallway for any movement. There was one sentinel placed firmly in front of their faces. It was the Slytherin prefect Noor. He was staring down to the left of the hall at the moment.

Ginny shrugged her shoulders at Ashlyn, who had a thoughtful expression on her face, then took off her bracelet and held her wand to it. She whispered a spell and instantly the jewelry transformed into a mouse. Ginny held in a gasp at the advanced transfiguration and winced as Ashlyn chucked the mouse down the right of the hall.

Noor heard the miserable shrieking of the mouse as it went flying through the air and started moved towards it, his wand held out first.

They simultaneously moved forward through the gap and started down the hallway, making sure their shoes made as little noise as possible. Ginny had never been in this corridor before and had a slight inclination they were heading towards the dungeons entrance and the staircase to the Ravenclaw tower. She was right as they entered another hall and she could see the distant light of the entrance hall. She started towards it instinctively when Ashlyn looped her arm through Ginny's and began in the opposite direction.

They walked a fair distance and then stopped in front of a teasingly familiar wall tapestry. Ginny opened her mouth to ask why they had paused, and then shut it once more when Ashlyn went behind the drapery to reveal a door. She unlocked it with her wand and they entered, finally able to take off the cloak.

"OK, we should be fine in here." Ashlyn lit a lantern to reveal what appeared to be a small study. The room was no bigger than half that of their dorm room and was moderately empty. It had a single bookcase, a desk, and a spindly stool. "I discovered this room accidentally last year during Christmas holiday. I come here all the time when I need a place to relax."

Ginny wondered how one could accidentally stumble across a hidden room, but pushed the thought aside as the purpose of their coming here again made itself clear in her head. She looked expectantly at her friend, "What is it that you want to tell me?"

"It's not so much that I want to tell you," Ashlyn rubbed at her arm and laughed a bit. "It sounds really stupid when I go over it in my head…"

"Wait," Ginny lurched over slightly. Her head had started hurting when she came into the room, but it had now intensified tenfold. She strangled out a little moan as she dropped to the floor. Ashlyn loomed overhead, worriedly examining her. "D-don't worry…there's just…some_thing_ about…this room–"

"What are you talking about?" Ashlyn asked as her skin paled.

"This was –this _is his room!_" the words raced out of Ginny's mouth before she could coherently organize them in her head, but the second she heard herself speak them, she knew they were true. Riddle had named this room his refuge before he had discovered the chamber. He had taken her here before, though she never could remember that until now. Images of it had flashed disjointedly in her minds eye, but she only now knew what they had depicted.

"Are – What – _Whose _room?"

Ginny's view was swirling, and the sudden impulse to open the desk drawers dragged her to her feet. She staggered towards it and grasped at the first handle she could reach. Tugging it open, she found it empty. She opened three more drawers, until she reached the last one, and her eyes beheld the image she had been dreading to find. There it was, shining with an unnatural light. The very image of what had ensnared her being last year.

The Diary.

Ginny's vision, as blurred as it was, took in every inch of the ordinary book lying before her. It was identical to the one Harry had punctured with the Basilisk fang; the rough black leather covering, the single gold leaf detail that ran along the edges, and of course, the glittering letters of T. M. RIDDLE.

In a second, the book was hastily shoved and secured on the inside of her robes, and a maliciously soothing voice echoed in her head. _Nice job my little Ginevra…_and she blacked out.

"Ginny? _Ginny_? ...Ginny. Ginevra? Weasley!" Ashlyn's wonderfully worried face was hanging over Ginny's when she first opened her eyes. "What the heck happened with you? You've been out for like, I don't know, thirty minutes or something! I've been having a grand old time trying to wake you up."

Realizing she was laying uncomfortably on the stone floor, Ginny raised her upper body to a sitting position. Her head felt as if a rail spike had been driven through it, repeatedly. "It's a long story…"

"I swear everyone here has their own dreary secrets…" Ashlyn suggested as settled herself in a more relaxed position. "Care to share yours if I share mine?"

"How about we just sit on them for awhile more, I'm still fully trying to figure out my own. You understand right?" Ginny looked pleadingly at her friend. "I'm just not ready to talk about mine yet."

Ashlyn nodded, "I sort of feel the same. As for right now, I'm not completely sure what's going on myself."

"If it gets really bad, talk to someone though…"

"Heh, if only it was that easy. My parents aren't exactly there for me. At least that's what I am beginning to think. It's complicated."

Ginny was lost for a second, "You mean, you think your parents are out to get you or something?"

"No, no. Not at all…" Ashlyn stood up and brushed off her robes. "Maybe we should be heading back now…I mean, I don't think we're safe here. And, we've been gone a long time, someone may have noticed."

Ginny and Ashlyn made it back to the Great Hall easily enough, only taking a few extra minutes more to retrieve Ashlyn's bracelet, which had managed to scurry all the way down a different corridor before the spell wore off.

Noor had returned to his outpost guarding the backdoor of the Great Hall, but was thankfully further away from it this time. They had no trouble opening the door and silently slipping through it.

"Where did you two go to that whole time?" Blaise hurtfully glared at Ginny and Ashlyn as they appeared next to him. He had been pretending to sleep while they were gone. "Care to explain yourselves?"

"Nothing happened, Blaise." Ginny said nonchalantly as she snuggled inside her own sleeping bag, the diary warm against her chest.

Notes

Author's notes: I am a big fan of the passive tense, I guess! Oh, and I have waited to do this for such a long time…

**Chippychoo**: Thank you so much for my very first review ever, it means so much to me! I was bouncing around because I was so happy, and because I am a total loser and would do something like that:-) Don't worry, you'll be seeing lot's more of Draco.

**Sabrina-Rosalie**: I swear, I'd love to just hug you for that review! I think I've changed it so that I can now receive reviews from people who aren't logged in. Thank you so much for pointing that out! Hehehe, as for Tom, you'll just have to wait and see ;-) I mean, it's not like I just totally gave it away right there or anything… As for Ginny being better at Occlumency than Harry, well…she just puts more effort into than he did, I guess!

**Nikashera NightDragon**, **Cerdwyn3**: You guys totally rock, too! Thank you!


	5. Out of, Into, and Between?

**Author's note**: This chapter seems very scrambled. There is a lot more 'fanfictiony' stuff in it. Like, I think a bit OOC-ness here and there. Oh, and I love all my readers and reviewers! You guys rock!

ooo

Nothing but Sirius Black was discussed the next couple of days at Hogwarts. The ridiculous theories about how Black got into the Castle overtaking the school were enough to make Ginny go mad. The only time she could find herself able to think over the sheer amount of gossip was class. Thankfully, the professors calmly conducted each period and all of them were eager to keep the students worry-free and working hard.

Occlumency lessons were currently Friday evenings only, and Ginny had yet to have to go see Snape to continue with Implimency. This was a good thing, as now she had plenty of time to devote to the diary she had found on Halloween night. It was an exact replica of the one she had written to so dedicatedly as a first year. In fact, the lack of Tom's memory was the only difference it had from the original —which Ginny was soon to change.

As a fifth year, it had been remarkable for Riddle to complete a spell to hold a memory of his sixteen-year-old self in a book. Perhaps Ginny was not a prodigy, but she was convinced she had the talent and intellect, and more importantly, the resolve to remove Riddle from her own mind and put him securely back in a book where he belongs. She spent all of her free time in the Library, looking up anything to do with magical maladies of the psyche.

It was the first Thursday afternoon of November, and Ginny found herself trudging to the Library for the third time that day. She had asked Professor Snape for permission to go into the restricted section, for research on the Blood Needle Toxin she claimed. This, as interesting as the topic may be, was merely a con so that she would be allowed to look at the selection of books dealing with the mind that she normally wouldn't have access to. Madame Pince stared at her very carefully as she finished looking over the permission slip, then disappointedly unlocked the restricted section.

After more than an hour of searching the shelves thanklessly, Ginny's legs were throbbing unpleasantly and her back was sore from leaning over too much. She grabbed _Portraying Personality in Portraits, A Thought on Pensives_, _Solely for Those Who Lack a Soul_, and_ The Trick to Restoring and Storing Memories, now with Illustrations!_.

She sheepishly checked out the books and made her way back to her room.

Having had little luck thus far in her research, Ginny had agreed to go to the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff match with some of her fellow Gryffindors. She met up with Colin, Ashlyn, Fides Winslow, Sycamore Mordant, and Madeline Corial in the common room before they made their way down to the Quidditch pitch.

What had started as a sparse shower in the morning had turned into a full-blown thunderstorm by kickoff. Ginny was crammed into the stands, soaking wet, and barely being able to make out the shapes of scarlet and yellow specks as they zoomed around the field. The crowd screamed and cheered as Gryffindor steadily gained a twenty, thirty, forty, and finally fifty point lead after two hours of play.

With the help of Sycamore's binoculars, Ginny began to follow Cedric Diggory and Harry's path as they meandered over the game pursuing the snitch. Katie Bell and the Hufflepuff chasers each scored two consecutive goals, and just as the Hufflepuff and Slytherins began to cheer for their second goal, a cold silence washed over the southern end of the pitch.

Students and teachers began to rise from their seats as an icy feeling seeped through the stands and there was a collective gasp as a horde of Dementors made their way onto the field. Ginny's head spun and she dropped back into her seat just in time to hear, "Oh Harry_, no!_" before she blacked out.

Ashlyn Wischard looked down to see Ginny Weasley slump over slightly on the bench, and then slowly blink her eyes open. "Ginny, it's Harry, he's –hey, are you, where are you going?"

Ginny stood up shakily and gave Ashlyn a very odd smile as she reached out her hands palm up, gathering raindrops, and then laughed coldly. The smile never left her face as she drifted down the stands, not caring to watch the drama unfold below on the pitch as Dumbledore floated the limp Gryffindor seeker towards the Castle.

ooo

Unfolding and folding his hands, granted they were really Ginny Weasley's hands, was a wonderfully delightful feeling to Tom Riddle as he walked quietly down the stands. He had fully regained all five senses for the first time in over fifty years. His sight was clear, his sense of smell intense, his hearing precise, his skin alive with textures, and he even had delight in tasting the citrus-flavored toothpaste still lingering on Ginny's teeth. He felt every muscle move, his blood pumping, his lungs inflating and then releasing. Sure, he may not have the…assets that he used to when he was a physical boy, but that was a small price to pay. Unfortunately, he knew he had little time to work with, that the affects of the Dementors would wear off, and the little blood-traitor would soon recover the mental strength to dislodge his hold on her body.

Tom reached the bottom of the stairs from the stands, and to his disgust saw the old fool Dumbledore rushing to the school, a stretcher suspended in midair before him.

Trying hard not to curse the headmaster into oblivion, Tom waited patiently until the grounds were void of any threatening figures and made his way to the front doors. Once inside he started down a long stone corridor. The entire hall had no classrooms, and seemed to serve no purpose, except for the one room he had discovered in his first week at Hogwarts.

Behind the Hydra tapestry was his study, and inside were all the books he ever truly needed at school. He entered and headed straight for the bookcase, behind which was a stone that was a concealed safe. Inside the safe were all the books and materials he had used fifty years ago. He removed everything and carefully arranged each tomb for the Weasley to find later. Tom even bookmarked chapters she would use. He checked over his notes, making alterations where appropriate. Finally, he opened the King James Bible he had from the orphanage. He had found it rather amusing to hollow the text out and hide his most prized tokens within a holy book. There was a vial of his blood. It was aged fifty years, yet perfectly preserved for the spell he needed in order to get his body back.

"Just this and everything will be ready," Tom said to himself as he transfigured a new utensil for one final item. He picked up the instrument and counted down from five, and he was done. He quickly disposed of the utensil and finished organizing all of the supplies.

Smiling to himself at his work and plan, Tom left his study and had full intentions on heading back to Gryffindor tower, when a better idea struck him. The dungeons had been his home for five years, why should he not just stop by for a little visit.

He knew not to head for the common, as that would appear suspicious coming for the innocent Weasley child, but he had every right to go to the potions laboratories. He was just ready to snoop in Severus' classroom, when a platinum blond head turned the corner and headed towards Tom.

Even in the dim light, he recognized the pale pointed face and the steely blue eyes. Wondering if the name would mean anything to the stranger, he called softly, "Lucian?"

The boy raised his gaze, and instantly his eyes burned with their own recognition and loathing. Tom smirked inwardly, he should have known this to be a Malfoy, and likewise should have known his discontent for Virginia.

Draco Malfoy sneered and sauntered over. He asked in his lazily pompous drawl, "What do you think you're doing here, Weasel?"

Tom nearly laughed at the remarkable likeness of the generations; this one here would be just as cowardly loyal and feeble as the elder Malfoy.

Draco scowled as Ginny did not answer him and only smirked. Inwardly, he was becoming nervous due to the downright evil grin that was playing at the redhead's lips, and the scarlet tint that had entered her normally chocolate eyes. He mentally slapped himself at paying such close attention to filth's features. "Hoping to beg some spare change off me so that your pathetic parents can actually buy the litter a meal this month?"

Instantly Ginny's features lit with an unfamiliar look for her. Tom gleefully pulled out Virginia's wand and pointed it at the bewildered Malfoy. "Get used to this, my boy! _Curintere!_"

Draco's eyes widened as his back hunched forward on its own. As if some unbearable force was pushing on him, he fell to his knees, his head bowed respectively at the young Weasley. He clenched his jaw as his mind tumbled in bafflement. He ground out, "What the hell do you think you are doing you defiled piece of―"

"I would stop there, young Malfoy," Tom allowed himself to laugh. "Or, I am afraid you will be doing much more…"

His head still forcefully bent to the ground, Draco could not see the cruel delight on Ginny's face. "What's going on here, Weasley? When my father hears about this, you'll pay!"

"Oh dear, dear…Do not worry, I will personally inform Lucian of his son's incompetent ability to serve me." Tom watched the boy's face twist in confusion.

"Lucian? My grandfather died nearly ten years ago. My father is Lucius. Come on, Weasley, you know that!" Draco growled through his clenched teeth, still trying to push himself up.

"Interesting… Well, no worries, I assure you, he will not be pleased that the Dark Lord is unhappy with him," Tom's smile deepened as the boy suddenly stopped resisting the spell, and his body went completely rigid.

"What ―what are you saying Weasley?" Clearly, Draco thought, the girl has gone mad.

Tom leaned down and whispered into Malfoy's ears, "What I am saying is that Lord Voldemort is coming. And that you will be ready to die for him when need be. It is what you are here for, my boy. He will make sure of it. _Finite incantum._"

Malfoy's body slacked to the stone floor, and Tom made sure to dig the Weasley brat's heal into the boy's back as he stepped over him and proceeded out of the Dungeons.

Tom made it successfully to Gryffindor Tower, only to be stumped when Sir Cadogan asked him for the password. "Oh, come now, you must know who I am, let me enter," he said testily at the portrait's denied access.

"And you should know by now, and especially under current conditions, that a password is required for entrance." The knight said from behind his visor, which had clapped itself shut.

"What do you mean by current conditions?" Tom titled his head.

Sir Cadogan started at that and said, "Why Sirius Black!"

Obviously, however important this name was to the silly picture, Tom cared nothing for it and frowned at his vague response.

"Don't worry Gin," said a voice to Tom's left as someone approached. He looked to see the girl from the Quidditch game stride up to the portrait. "The password's Twiddlebit."

Tom did not say anything for a moment, for the girl beside him had almost made his mouth drop, and certainly made him painfully aware of his lack of manly goods. She was positively luscious. He mentally let out a disappointed string of curses. How he missed the old days when girls would offer themselves daily for his pleasure. Damn the Weasley brat for being a damn girl.

"Ginny?" The girl interrupted Tom's thoughts, "Are you coming in?"

He looked up through the portrait hole, only to realize his vision was going blurry, his other senses beginning to fade as well. Tom's hold on Virginia was slipping, and she was coming back. He flashed a last smirk at the beautiful girl in front of him before he receded once more.

ooo

Ginny groggily stumbled forward and fell into the portrait hole. She was instantly awake as she became aware of the fact she was lying in the middle of a doorway, and not on a stand bench. She rolled over the threshold and into the Gryffindor common room. How she got there, she could not recall. Ashlyn leaned over Ginny with curiosity written on her face.

"Having fun down there?"

"Uhh…" She held out her arm and Ashlyn helped pull her to her feet. Ginny was about to ask what they were doing inside when an image of Harry plummeting from his broom in the middle of the Quidditch game during the storm flashed before her eyes. "Oh no! Where's Harry? Do you know if he's alright? What happened? And, and the Dementors! Why were they on the pitch?"

"Hey, listen! Calm down," Ashlyn said as she shook Ginny by the shoulders gently. "Ginny, you with me? OK, good. Dumbledore took Harry to the Hospital Wing, I expect. I'm not sure if he's conscious, but I think…I'm sure he is fine, physically. I don't know why he fell from his broom, but I'm willing to bet it was something to do with the Dementors and how they affect him. And, well, no one quite knows why they came onto the pitch, but Dumbledore was furious, that's for sure…"

Ginny bobbed her head up and down as she listened. Harry was alive. He was still alive…

"Oh, and…Gryffindor lost," Ashlyn said as an afterthought, shrugging her shoulders.

"WHAT?" Ginny let her mouth drop open, and then shook her head. _Quidditch isn't important right now_… "At least…we played…well."

"Man, you really don't remember any of this?" Ashlyn asked quietly.

"I can't remember anything except seeing Harry fall. After that, it's all just a blank…" Ginny said this very slowly as she realized this is exactly how she felt last year after Riddle had possessed her. She took hold of Ashlyn's arms and shook them nervously, "Oh no, no. Ashlyn, I've got to go find Professor Snape. This isn't good, this is very…Oh shoot!"

"Huh? Why do you have to go see that git?" Ashlyn looked at Ginny as if she had sprouted four arms.

"Everyone has their secrets, remember?" Ginny said quietly, even if she was in a panic on the inside.

Ashlyn's face twisted with disgust, "Eww! You and him― Oh god, that's gross! He's like ancient, and his nose! Have you seen his hair?"

Ginny was lost for a second, then "What? Oh, come on, no! You have a sick mind, I mean, no, that's just wrong!"

"I mean, he's kinda alright in the right light, and he's sorta mysterious and― but, oh, never mind! As long as you're not…"

"We're not. Gosh, no. But, I still have to go see him," Ginny said this quickly as some students began to give them annoyed glances. "I'll be back in a while! Later!"

Ginny left her friend standing in the portrait hole and almost ran to the staircase. She received odd looks from the twins and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team as she nearly jumped down the steps.

"Don't worry, Gin! Your knight in shining armor will recover soon!" one of the twins called after her, and laughter followed shortly.

Ginny ignored her brother's quip and continued straight to the Potions room. She reached the door and started frantically banging on it as she tried to catch her breath. After several minutes of no response, she finally tapered off and slumped against the door. She considered trying to go to Dumbledore's office, but rejected that idea, as she did not know the password. Her mind raced for someone who could help her, when a name popped into her head. She reached his office and hastily knocked and opened the door before there was an answer, "Professor Lu―"

She faltered as she saw Lupin down a steaming goblet with Professor Snape hovering over him. They both turned as she slammed her way into the room. Lupin finished off the contents of the goblet and set it on his desk, and shared a glance with Snape.

"What's the matter, Miss Weasley?" Lupin asked casually.

Ginny forgot her curiosity and stupor and her mouth immediately started running before she could properly think about what she wanted to say, "Professor Snape, Riddle's ―and the game― the Dementors!" She stopped to think about her words carefully instead of just spitting them out, "I think there's a ninety-nine percent possibility that he may have possessed me…again."

Time in the room seemed to lag for a while as no one moved. The door behind Ginny finally clicked itself shut and the three occupants were jolted back to the present.

"Are you sure of this Weasley?" Snape asked, breaking the silence. He brushed past her to lock the door. Ginny cocked her head, many questions streaming through her mind.

"Yes, I'm sure. It's just like last year, except now I know what's happening when I blank out."

"When did it happen?" Lupin questioned from where he was leaning on his desk.

"The last thing I remember is the Dementors coming onto the Quidditch field, and then I came around about ten minutes ago in the Tower." Ginny sat down in a chair, feeling slightly tired as her adrenalin level dropped. "I can't tell you what I must have been doing that entire time."

"…I have an idea," Snape said, walking up to Ginny. He kneeled so that he was eye level with her. "If you can't tell me what you were up to, maybe Riddle can."

Ginny took a moment to understand what he meant, "You mean, if I block you from reading my mind, maybe you'll be redirected to his memories."

"Very good, Miss Weasley."

"OK, let's do this." Ginny set her chin and stared into the beady Potion Master's eyes. He stood straight up and drew his wand. Her hands were shaking, and she grabbed the arms of the chair so no one would notice.

"Severus…" Lupin started to object, but stopped as Snape gave him a disgustedly aggravated look.

"One, two …_Legilimens!_"

The spell hit her square in the forehead and knocked Ginny further into the chair. She could almost feel something reaching out and trying to tear her brain open. She clenched her eyes shut, willing the spell away from her own mind. She jerked forward as it reached right through her own mind and seemed to delve into a different presence. She opened her eyes at the odd sensation, as if a ghost's hand was rummaging around in her skull.

Snape was standing in front of her, his eyes clouded and unfocused yet darting around as if they were scanning a picture laid before them. Suddenly his eyes widened and, without warning, he groaned as he was flung backwards into the door. The icy hand yanked painfully through Ginny's head and out her eyes. She yelped as she was physically tugged off her seat.

"Do you two insist on causing yourselves physical pain?" Lupin asked, helping Ginny to her feet and then proceeding to do the same for Snape. He watched as both of them dizzily looked around

"It seems like I didn't get the memories we wanted," Snape said, awkwardly brushing dust off his back. He made an abnormally apprehensive look at Ginny.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, not meaning to sound as rude as it came out. She apologized and tried again, "Is there something you need, Professor?"

Lupin looked back and forth between the two, feeling slightly like a third wheel. He was curious to know why Snape looked as shaken up as he did. "What's the matter Severus?"

"Nothing," Snape said angrily and stormed out of the room.

There was more silence as Ginny and Lupin stood somewhat dumbfounded in the Potion Master's wake. "That's not fair. I still had questions for him to answer!" Ginny complained. "That man can be such an a―" ―she stopped, remembering her company― "He can be peculiar sometimes."

"He has many…issues to deal with," Lupin suggested vaguely. They watched the door inch its way shut.

o o o

It was Friday afternoon, and Ginny was sitting down with Colin and Sycamore Mordant for lunch.

"I noticed Professor Lupin wasn't in class today," Sycamore said as they sat down, oddly straining his voice to sound nonchalant.

"Uh…I have a feeling the entire class noticed that as well," Colin laughed, serving himself some food. "It's not like you can miss that oily-bat of a Potions Professor."

Ginny was idly wondering where this was going.

"Yes, I know that, but the point―"

"You mean there _is_ a point to this?" Colin asked as he selected prime slices of bacon, still laughing slightly.

"Oh, Colin, just let him speak…I'm interested where this is going."

"Yes, well anyhow, I've been keeping track of the absences from class―"

"Isn't that kind of odd, don't you think?" Colin snorted and rolled his eyes.

"_Anyhow_, all the absences from class occurred on the nights of the fu―"

A sharp gasp stopped Sycamore in mid-sentence, and all three of them turned to watch as Ashlyn, who had been about to sit down, race out of the Great Hall covering her face. People gave odd looks to her retreating back.

"What's with her?" Colin asked no one in particular, his mouth half full with food. "Anyhow, you were saying Syca?"

"Oh never mind, it's just a stupid theory…" he said dejectedly, poking his plate with a fork.

"I think I'm going to go talk to Ashlyn," Ginny pushed herself up from the table. "I'm worried about her."

Later that evening, after searching in the dorm, the common room, the Library, the bathrooms, the studies, the owlery, and even the kitchens, Ginny had yet to locate Ashlyn. Finally resolving to go do some work, she was leaving the Great Hall when something seemed to tug at her train of thoughts from her memories. She stopped and looked around the Entrance Hall, her mind trying hard to remember something very important. Her view swept over to a dimly lit corridor that seemed to disappear, blending with the stones of the walls around it.

Ginny started towards it, remembering Ashlyn had showed her the hidden room down the corridor and behind the tapestry of Rhea the Warlock fighting Kaactyli the serpentine dragon of Gloor.

Her heart was pounding in her ears as she drew back the tapestry and opened the door. Inside, the room was dark and she fumbled to find her wand before she was able to light it up. Ginny looked around at the simple enough seeming study, her eyes met the bookcase and she cried as a sharp pain cracked through her head like lightening. She dropped to her knees, an image burned briefly into her eyelids, a memory of this room.

Riddle had been here himself, this is where he had made the Diary, and opening her eyes, Ginny knew that all the books he had used were not ten feet from her.

Trepidation hit her like a train with the first step she took. She was dealing with the younger form of You-Know-Who. And by looking through his books and notes, and performing a spell that he once used for dark purposes…what would that make of her? Of course, there was always the alternative: Living a life with Tom forever a part of her mind and soul. With that thought, her resolve hardened, and she knew that she had to go through with this.

Ginny had sat shifting through Riddle's papers for nearly an hour, and it had become clear that he had not used any of the spells they held. Instead, throughout several notebooks he had created his own spell. His lab journal documented his progress over two years. She could not help but notice that his handwriting was just as elegant in his research as it was when he had written to her last year.

Looking over the final version of the spell, Ginny realized just how advanced the magic and potion was. She bit on her lip thoughtfully as she read over the material list, her eyes spotting '_Dried petals of Nüna_', '_Saliva of matured Manticore_', and '_one vial of subject's blood – approx. 60 ml_'.

Discouraged, Ginny was trying to think of how she could get to Knockturn Alley in order to find all of these rare supplies, when a small chest on the bottom shelf caught her attention. She could not understand how she had not seen it earlier, but settled on the fact that it had previously just blended with the shadows. After pulling it out, Ginny had a very suspecting feeling that Riddle had actually left what he had used in this very trunk.

Just as her fingers had begun to push the top open, her stomach admitted a very unladylike growl. She jumped at the noise, the intense atmosphere of the room became suddenly comical, and Ginny slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Don't tell me," she said before glancing at her wristwatch. "Quarter of ten, that's just great."

She regretfully put everything away again, knowing that it would not be safe to the leave the materials lying all over. Ashlyn knew about this room, and who could say how many others knew as well? The next visit down here she would dedicate to labeling and checking the small inventory Riddle had left.

Ginny poked her head out from behind the tapestry and checked to see if the coast was clear. She sighed at the empty hallway and started furtively heading out to the Great Hall. Her shoes echoed loudly, and decided it would be best if you took them off. In her stockings, she slipped over the glossy floors of the Great Hall silently. She controlled fits of giggles as she took a running start and slid down the long hallway.

She was doing this on the second floor landing as well, when she heard, "Aha, I caught you! We've got 'em now my sweet! This'll be detention for you!" Filch's voice rang through the hallway gleefully.

Ginny's shoulders dropped. _All work and no play._ With her head bowed and her shoes still in her hands, she shamefully turned to see Filch and Mrs. Norris hobbling nearer. Her mouth opened to mumble an apology, but another voice beat her to it.

"I am sorry, Mr. Filch, but that will not be necessary." Ginny looked up, standing beside her was Professor Dumbledore. She gaped at how he had simply appeared out of thin air.

Filch looked as if he had something particularly rotten shoved under his nose. He grunted something incoherent and shrank away down another corridor.

"Professor, I can explain―" Ginny began, but Dumbledore held a hand to stop her. She took to looking at the floor.

"Points will be taken from Gryffindor, but I do trust that you are out after hours for a good reason," he said, looking at her over his half-moon spectacles.

"Yes."

"Is there anything you would like to tell me, Miss Weasley?" They had started walking to Gryffindor tower.

"Well, I don't know where to start, but I trust Professor Snape and Professor Lupin have been informing," Ginny rather asked it.

"Quite, but they are not you."

"I've been doing my own research…about the spell Riddle used to make the Diary." She was hesitant to continue.

Dumbledore nodded his head thoughtfully. He offered her a lemon drop before popping one into his mouth. They continued walking in silence, until "And what have you found?"

"I haven't found much yet." The lie slipped right out of her mouth without any effort. Ginny was mildly unsettled at that. "All I've come to so far is that it was some sort of derivative of the spell a painter uses while creating a portrait."

"I see…and that is all?" Dumbledore did not look at her while he asked this, but just kept casually staring ahead of them as they walked.

"That is all," Ginny said automatically. Guilt clawed at her insides as the words left her lips.

"Ginevra, I must ask you, even with your current condition, that you take special care to be safe. We do, after all, have a murderer on the loose," Dumbledore said delicately as they reached Sir Cadogan.

"I understand, sir, this won't happen again." Ginny said thank you and bid the Headmaster goodnight, before retreating into the tower. She had full intent on going straight to her room, but at the sight of Ron and Hermione sitting miserably in front of the fire, she changed her mind.

"Hey Ron," she greeted as she walked over. He grunted in response, and Hermione offered her a small smile. Ginny was at a lost as to why they were both so dismal, until she remembered Harry. "Heard anything from Madame Pomfrey about Harry?"

"He'll be let out of the infirmary Monday. Hopefully," Ron mumbled unhappily. He was quiet for a moment more until he suddenly jumped forward, looking chipper. He smiled at Ginny, "Why don't you make Harry a card, Gin. That would be great!"

Her cheeks immediately flushed. "G― give Harry a card?"

"Yea, you could make one for him. He'd love it!" Ginny blushed a deeper shade of pink, and then nodded her head obediently. Ron looked as though a refusal would crush him.

"Making him a card will be fun. I'll go get to it then," she said quietly, still at a slight lost. Ron bounced his head up and down enthusiastically at her.

"I know a spell to make it sing too," Hermione spoke up, catching some of Ron's fervor. "Wouldn't that just be lovely?"

"Uh, sure," Ginny turned to head up the staircase, but was surprised to find that Hermione was running to catch up with her. "What's up?"

The older girl lowered her voice, becoming suddenly serious, "I think we need to talk, Ginny. Let's go to my room."

Ginny followed Hermione to the third year's room, and sat next to her on her bed. Hermione drew the canopy and cast a silencing charm. Ginny widened her eyes in question. "I guess that's a nifty spell to know…"

"It is," Hermione said and folded her legs under her comfortably. She watched as Ginny did the same, and smiled reassuringly. "Ginny, I realize that this time of year can be very hectic for everyone. I am buried in work myself, and you likely are too. You just seem very stretched lately, and after last year, I just don't want to overlook anything."

Ginny refrained from awkwardly wringing her hands. She looked at the sincere expression lighting Hermione's face, "You're right."

"Oh." Hermione's face fell slightly. "Where do you go Thursday evenings?"

"What do you mean? I study in the Library. Of course, I know that you're here with Ron and Harry in the common rooms most evenings," Ginny said. "I guess you wouldn't know that I go to the Library."

"I go to the Library every night," Hermione said, donning a semi-hurt look.

Ginny could have sworn that Ron always asked for help with his homework in the evenings.

Hermione noticed Ginny's face and quickly amended, "After I help Ron, of course. Just, the point is, I wonder whether you are all right sometimes. Are you…lonely this year?"

"No. I'm fine, thank you," Ginny answered, suddenly not wanting to have this conversation. "If you must know, I am in the Dungeons some evenings. Professor Snape gives me extra lessons because I am at a higher level than the other students in my year."

"That's it?" Ginny nodded her head. "How are your other classes?"

"They are going very well."

"How's Ron treating you?"

"Like I don't exist when he doesn't want to see me, of course," Ginny said this without thinking, but realized how very true it was. She lowered her voice, "Ron acts like he cares, but I feel like he doesn't even know me."

Hermione pulled Ginny into a hug, "He loves you Ginny, no matter how thick he is. I care for you as well! You are like the sister that I have always wanted. If you ever have something on your mind and would like to share it with a person who cares, I am here and will do my very best to help you."

Flattered though she was, Ginny could not put her heart behind her response, "Thanks Hermione, if I ever do need help, I'll find you."

"Great, I'm glad we had this talk. Now, go get to work on that card!" Hermione said goodnight, and Ginny retreated to her room.

That night, she was up past midnight making the Get Well Soon card for Harry. She even found herself enjoying it after a while. She decorated it with glitter and even scented the paper of vanilla. The only downside was the song charm, which Ginny just could not get right. Her skills in Flitwick's class added up to zilch when it came to doing this one spell. Though slightly disappointed in herself, she blushingly gave the card to Harry the next morning.

ooo

November passed like the flutter of a snitch's wing, and before Ginny knew it, a very wet December had arrived at Hogwarts. The end of term was approaching, and it was the last Herbology class that had the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw second years walking down to the greenhouses. Ginny had shuffled out of the Dining Hall behind her classmates, her mind reeling over Implimency lessons from the previous week. Ginny's defenses were nonexistent, and Snape was able to infiltrate her mind over and over. Though he never used it on her as long as he did the first lesson, Snape could do nothing more than hit her repeatedly with the spell and hope she would begin to build a form of resistance.

"You do know that you are walking past Greenhouse 7?"

Ginny stopped in her tracks at the interruption. She blinked and blushed, "Hello, Luna."

Luna Lovegood gave a vague smile and walked into the appropriate greenhouse. Ginny turned around, followed, and sat next to Luna just as Professor Sprout entered. The Professor explained that today they would be transplanting and cropping Spotted Bubu plants. The students diligently set to work, conversations popping up amongst partners.

Ginny looked up at Luna, a question sitting tentatively at the tip of her tongue. Finally, it just jumped, "Luna, I know that this is personal for you, but back in September, what happened with the Hollow Bog Box?"

Luna continued gently prying the Bubu from its pot, but titled her head thoughtfully, "My father is editor to a magazine, _The Quibbler_, that deals with proving the improvable."

Ginny glanced at Luna's ribbons in her hair, and nodded for her to continue.

"He's brilliant, because he has a wonderful insight to the world that only my mother shared with him." ―Luna gently placed the Bubu in a new pot― "He would come up with amazing, sometimes abstract theories, and my mother would run experimental spells trying to prove them." ―she clipped a few dying leaves absently― "Dad, after paying a visit to the Ministry of Magic, became convinced that there was a mass of unnatural fire demons being stowed away as the Minister's private army." ―she sprayed the stem with an Anti-Flubberworm potion― "Of course, the Minister denied the '_ludicrous_' accusations. So, Dad suggested for Mom to try to perform a Summoning with him. It failed, and Mom died in the resulting explosion. Since then, I have always had a fear of Heliopaths, the fire-demons," Luna said in an abrupt conclusion.

Ginny's mouth was hanging open in mortification, "I had no idea. I'm so sorry, Luna."

"Don't apologize, I know Mom isn't gone," Luna said sincerely. She grabbed another Spotted Bubu, looking at Ginny sideways. "What are you afraid of, Ginny?"

"Wha― what am I afraid of?" Ginny had not been expecting Luna to ask this, and was stumped as for what to say. She bit her lip and concentrated on her work for a moment. "I don't know how to answer, honestly."

"Talking about your fears may make it easier for you to face them."

"I'll be facing my fears soon enough, I suppose," Ginny knew it was vague, but Luna nodded her head anyhow, her lemon-wedge earrings dancing with the movement.

ooo

Ginny had spent so many hours in the hidden study preparing Riddle's spell that the first snow fell without her even noticing. Instead, she had been stuck inside doing countless preparations; cutting up poisonous scorpion tails, making dust of dried Nüna petals, and boiling the heartstring of a fetal dragon.

She was a sort of overworked-student-zombie, having barely enough energy left for classes. Snape had given up on her during the Implimency lessons, saying that the Gryffindor incompetence must have finally caught up to her. McGonnagal approached her one afternoon, worried about an uncharacteristically low mark Ginny had received on an essay. Professor Lupin talked to her after class, explaining how he was concerned about her lack of participation in class discussions.

Ginny was working meticulously on her latest Transfiguration essay in the common room, when a strange noise and sudden burst of light made her jump in her seat. She looked up to find Colin, or rather Colin's camera lens, staring at her.

"You look haunted, Gin," he said plainly and snapped another shot. "Your expression is amazing, quite beautiful to be honest."

Ginny smiled and blushed. She had been about to complain to him for bothering her, but the compliment stopped her. Colin had always found her a good subject for his portfolio, but he had not said anything like that to her before. In fact, there was maybe one other person who had ever told her she was beautiful, but she liked to think that it never happened.

The camera snapped again, its purple smoke snaking into the air around Ginny lazily.

"Care to share what's troubling you?" Colin asked, sizing her up for another shot.

"Just work," she said, smiling for the picture.

She saw Colin frown from behind his camera, "Bugger. If you, the smartest witch in our year, is worrying about work, then the rest of us must be doomed!"

"Oh, you know that's not true," Ginny laughed at the flattery and smirked. "I'm the smartest witch in the entire school."

Colin lowered his camera and laughed. His smile faded slightly, though. "Is it really just work that's getting you down? You seem so distracted lately. I remember you acting this way last year, before the…the…"

"Thanks for your concern," she said sincerely, "But it's nothing like that, I'm fine."

"If you say so," Colin said as she turned back to her work. He watched as she absentmindedly bit on her lip. The worried movement was endearing, and he took one last picture.

o oo

As the last week term came into reach, Ginny was happily looking forward to a nearly empty Castle, which would make things easier for the spell she was dutifully preparing.

Then, it came.

Her parents owled Ginny on the last Tuesday of term, saying how she was to come home for Christmas holiday. There was no getting out of it for her, which meant she had less than a week to complete the spell. She could risk bringing all the materials home, but knew that the probability of something going missing or wrong was too high to take a chance.

It was for that reason Ginny found herself kneeling on the stone floor of the study Sunday evening, preparing the final steps for the completion of the spell. Thirty-three ingredients were brewing in the brass cauldron before her. Next to the cauldron was the diary replica, lying open to the first page. In her hands was a vial of blood, the last thing she was to add to the burgundy liquid in front of her.

Her hands were shaking as she popped the cork off the vial's top. The crimson blood slipped off the glass too quick, in Ginny's opinion. The potion bubbled and turned a brutal shade of purple before darkening into black.

"Delego Animus Cruento Necto," Ginny quietly started chanting the words.

Her mouth kept repeating the spell as she watched the potion viciously churn and fume. The cauldron was shaking, an eerie glow overcoming it. She watched, transfixed as the diary too, began to look pearly as well. The words kept leaving her, steadily getting louder as her fear increased. Ginny swore the ground beneath her was trembling with energy. Very dark energy, and she realized the air was pulsing with it.

Ginny watched as the potion shrank deep into the cauldron. She stopped chanting the spell, and wondered if it was over, or if she had messed it up somehow. Suddenly, a phantom hand reached out ferociously from within the cauldron and delved deep into her chest. She screamed in pain, her body twitching in agony at the fiery fingers aggressively rummaging through her heart and soul. The hand found what it was looking for and yanked.

Ginny fell forward and rolled on her side, her arms trying to grab the hand out of her. It clawed at something that had very firmly attached itself to her heart, but finally tore free from within her chest. She watched, breathless, as the ethereal hand wrenched a haunting shadow out of her torso and leapt with it into the diary.

Instantly, the room ceased to shake and the air thinned. Ginny's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she passed out.

The diary shook violently, and seemed to exhale before falling still on the ground once more.

ooo

Author's note: NO, Tom and the OC, Ashlyn, will NOT be having an affair or anything (:all the readers sigh in relief:). That little scene is there for a reason, though. Mmmk? Most things in my story happendon't happen for a reason, hopefully. I don't know, I'm not that smart. Anyhow, I haven't finished Chapter six, which I am upset about. Usually I like to have two chapters done before I post another. I just felt that it has been too long since an update, so yea. I don't want to form a habit though. This chapter seems to be so short….

**Garnet Til Alexandros XIII**: Loved your review, I wrote so much _here_, though, that I just emailed you my response.

**Ciardra**: Thank you so much! You'll just have to put things together for Ashlyn, or wait to find out. )

If ANYONE has any questions like 'why's there such a random, whiny OC' or anything else, I would **LOVE** to answer them as best I can. It makes me happy to know that people pay such close attention and care to know things I don't elaborate about in the story!


	6. Reappearances

**Author's note**: I am so stupid. I had to reload chapter five, because I forgot that the Fat Lady wasn't around after Sirius ripped her and that Sir Cadogen replaced her at the Gryffindor entrance. I can't believe I forgot! Anyhow… Chapter six, yay! It is a bit jumpy time-wise, but I know this story is dragging, so I tried to speed things up. I hope that didn't take away from whatever quality it may have had. A mistake in the very first sentence, that's what I get for not reading it over thoroughly!

ooo

Ginny closed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She gave her corner of the room one last good look before turning to leave the room with Ashlyn. As she boarded the Hogwarts Express, and settled herself for a relaxing ride, her thoughts drifted. The other night Ginny had awoken in the study after completing the spell, only to find the room disheveled and the Diary innocently placed in the middle of the mess. Though nearing one in the morning, she had obsessively cleaned the room before finally ridding herself of the Diary. She had decided that tying a rock to it and chucking it into the lake would be good enough, since she had found that fire would not destroy it. Her conscious finally feeling unburdened for the first time in over a year, Ginny was very excited about the Holidays and a satisfying break at the Burrow.

Of course, a satisfying break soon turned into hectic preparations for Christmas, including gift shopping, decorating, cleaning, and cooking. She had run around acting similar to a rooster with its head cut off, not regaining any energy that she had lost during school. Finally, two weeks later, after days of enduring Fred and George's experiments, Percy's lectures, and her parent's coddling, Ginny once again found herself trudging up the grounds to Hogwarts Castle. The hazardous snow quickly set about trying to bury her, and it did not help that her bag had managed to weigh considerably more than she had remembered. There was fifty meters between where the Carriages dropped the students off and the Castle entrance, but to Ginny, it was as if she was not making any progress.

"Wait a second, I'm not moving!" Ginny yelped and began flailing her arms helplessly, realizing with a jolt in her stomach that the bag was caught on something. She tugged harder against whatever was holding her back, when it suddenly let go and she went flying face first into the heavy layer of snow on the ground.

Laughter was the first thing that reached her ears once she had retrieved her head from the snow. Her hair had covered her face, so she spent a humiliating thirty seconds trying furiously to get her eyes and mouth uncovered. This made the laughter double. She finally set herself straight, looking up to find Draco Malfoy and his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, doubled over with mirth a few feet away.

Ginny grit her teeth, intending to bite his head off, but she decided that it was not worth it. Closing her eyes, she calmly counted down from ten to one, or, down to three rather. Before she could finish her counting, a snowball hit her square in the face. She decided closing one's eyes in a time of war would not necessarily help. Her face started to tingle from the cold.

"Having fun, little Weasel?" Draco was staying a good distance from her, but he still had a look of intense pleasure on his face. He nodded at Crabbe and Goyle, and this seemed to be a way of dismissing them, as they both hurried off to the Castle.

Malfoy watched them go before he started to approach Ginny. She wanted to glare, yell, kick, do anything hurtful to him, but found that the cold air was quite restraining. She took to shivering and clattering her teeth instead. Her knees had gone numb, for she had not yet gotten off the ground.

"You are one incredibly peculiar person, Weasel," Malfoy said as he reached her and knelt to her eye level. "Now, care to explain what the hell happened before Hols?"

Ginny frowned at him, out of both anger and confusion. She kept her mouth shut and tried to stand.

"I suspect that you are not quite _yourself_." He knocked her back into the snow. "Last year, as I understand from Father, you were possessed by the young memory of the Dark Lord. As I also have been informed, he was supposed to have left you after the end of last year."

Ginny was finally able to stand, but found her legs quite unstable. She tried to look around, ask anyone for help. The empty white grounds greeted her quietly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Draco frowned at her lack of cooperation. He looked at his expensive black boots as he thought over what he wanted to say.

Ginny took his thoughtful consideration of his feet as a time for her to get away. She began backing up, and when he still did not notice, she turned, and ran as fast as the snow would let her.

Draco looked up in time to see the fleeing Weasley catch her boot in the snow and tumble face first into it, again. He sighed and walked over to her limp form, half buried in white fluff. Grabbing her securely by the hood, he yanked her up. He ignored her blushing and disorientated look on her face, and asked, "The memory of this 'young Dark Lord' character isn't gone is he?"

"I d-don't kn-know what T-tom said t-to you, b-but he's gone n-now," Ginny said between her chattering teeth. She wrapped her arms around herself, hoping that her shaking legs would have enough strength to get her back to the Castle.

"He's gone? Since when?" Malfoy looked down his nose at her suspiciously.

"Since I t-trapped him in the Diary b-before Christmas!" Ginny was quite sick of this talk, quickly growing very cold, and again turned to leave.

Draco absently wrapped a tighter grip on her hood, yanked to halt her leaving, and continued, "This was after he told me that Lord Voldemort was coming back?"

Ginny faced Malfoy again, her face twisted in a puzzled fashion. Having given up on clattering her teeth, her mouth hung open for a pause. "Riddle told you Lord Voldemort was coming back? Well, _he is_ Lord Voldemort. What else did he say?"

"He told me I would be the one serving him when he did," Draco snorted. "So, you can see why I am rather concerned with this whole issue of yours."

"My issue?" She let out a growl, "My issue? This would have had nothing to do with me if it wasn't for _your_ father!"

"Yes, but the fact is that my father did what he did, and now you are a big factor in this problem." Draco still had her hood wrapped around his fist.

"Whatever, Riddle's finished. I trapped him in the Diary and then let the book sink to the bottom of the Lake," she said and set to work unraveling Malfoy's hand from her hood.

"Last year he was supposedly gone too." Draco's glove had managed to tangle itself in the fabric of the Weasley's hood. Not paying it much heed, he began to help her try to get it uncaught as he talked. "Are you certain he is gone now? Is there any irrefutable evidence of his demise?"

Ginny sighed, "No. I cannot say that there is. I'll have to go see Professor Snape some time soon, and Dumbledore as well. It's about time that I 'fessed up to them about all I have been doing." She took off her gloves and tried again to get Malfoy's hand from her hood.

"Oh, here, let me get it," Draco said distractedly and pulled out his wand, and making sure Weasley's hair and both of their hands were out of harm's way, he executed a searing charm. His glove fell despondently to the ground.

Ginny watched the glove fall and her reflexes automatically made her bend to retrieve it. Her hand hit Malfoy's as the both reached for it, and they mumbled simultaneous apologies. She straightened herself out and held Malfoy's glove to him, smiling embarrassedly.

"You don't happen to play Quidditch, do you?" Draco asked without thinking as he took back his glove. His warm fingers touched the deathly cold hand of Weasley's.

"My brothers never let me play with them, but that didn't keep me on the ground for long," Ginny answered lightly. She meant to add more when it hit her suddenly that she was standing outside in the freezing cold, having a civil conversation about Quidditch with Draco Malfoy. His face fell, and he must have realized the same thing. She said quietly, "I should probably get inside."

"Yes, I expect my housemates are waiting for my arrival, as well" Draco had to refrain from shuffling his feet awkwardly.

They walked silently up to the Castle doors, and nodded mutely to each other in a way of goodbye when they parted.

Ginny had a very distinct trail of puddles following her to Gryffindor Tower. Sir Cadogan gave her a chivalrous greeting before she stumbled through the entranceway. She unceremoniously dropped her bag in front of the fire and sank to her knees. Tugging off her soaking wet gloves, cloak, scarf, and boots, she began to feel a bit warmer.

Comfortable, but still rather lonely, Ginny craned her neck to see if she could spot any friends in the common room. In the far corner, she saw Colin, Sycamore, and Dean Thomas crowding around Ashlyn. This was not an uncommon sight of her. The group laughed, and Ashlyn's silvery-brown head bobbed happily.

"Sick isn't it?" Ginny raised her head to the new voice besides her.

"Hello Fides," she began in greeting, but stopped at the sour look on her roommate's face.

"I swear it's like Ashlyn unknowingly possesses some sort of magnetism that boys are haplessly drawn to," Fides drew her eyebrows in a disapproving manner. "I cannot stand her. Walking around like some wilting flower…" Her voice jumped an octave as she mocked, "Oh, poor me! I am ever so helpless! Look at my weary, but still beautiful face! And my dull hair, which still looks better than anyone else's does, but isn't it so lifeless? I am ever so weak all the time. I guess I'll just leech off all the boys for their help! Poor me, the attention from the entire guy population of Hogwarts just won't do!"

Ginny observed her roommate quietly. Fides was pretty, but jealousy was not becoming of her. Ginny knew that Fides had a crush on a Hufflepuff boy in the beginning of the year, but the girl had seen him with Ashlyn and had immediately assumed the worse. Deciding to stick up for Ashlyn, since she was too far out of earshot to do so herself, Ginny said "She doesn't ask for the attention."

"How do you know?" Fides was not looking at Ginny, but still resolutely glaring at Ashlyn. She twisted one of her brunette curls around a finger absently. Then, her face softened, "Well, I guess she never has said anything about Nils."

Nils was the Hufflepuff.

"That's because she doesn't care for him. At least, not like you do," Ginny knew this for certain. Ashlyn had confided in her that she had always gotten butterflies in her stomach whenever Oliver Wood was within twenty feet. '_He's not _that _much older!_' Ashlyn had forlornly exclaimed one evening.

"What do you think it is about her?" Fides was vaguely referring to Ashlyn's uncanny charisma.

"I couldn't tell you," Ginny answered honestly.

"Do you know, Sycamore's told me that he can't shake the feeling there's something odd about her," Fides said gossipingly as she leaned closer to Ginny. She lowered her voice and held a hand around her mouth secretively, "He says that even though he thinks she's fetching, that there's a strange aura that follows her."

"He thinks she's fetching?" Ginny asked, a smile pulling at her lips with a bit of excitement. She soon regretted saying that and swallowed a lump in her throat at the annoyed look Fides gave her. Dropping the smile, she asked as seriously as she could manage, "I mean, what is he implying with that 'aura' stuff?"

"No idea," Fides said and sat back, her face thoughtful. "He says he can't help picking up feelings like that from people. The first day of Potion's last year, he said it about Snape too. In fact, he's even said it about you…"

Ginny smiled nervously and tried to look innocently puzzled at the suspicious look Fides cast out the corners of her eyes.

"Of course, I don't buy any of it. He once tried to convince me that your brother's rat was hiding something sinister," said Fides before breaking into a laugh. "I mean come on, a rat? Who is he trying to fool?"

Laughing uneasily, and hardly thinking anything about Scabbers, Ginny wondered what Sycamore Mordant had said about her.

ooo

"You mean to tell me that you preformed an illegal, uncertified spell by yourself, without any supervision, or any care that something harmful could have happened to you? Then, you thought it would be good to go ahead and destroy the book, and not think anything of that," Snape asked, looming over Ginny threateningly.

She gulped in response.

"That is enough, Severus." Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, his eyes thoughtful from behind his lenses. He leaned on his elbows, letting his hands form a triangle with his fingers. "Ginevra, would you care to show me to this study where you completed the spell?"

"Of course, Headmaster," Ginny said, anxiously getting up from her chair.

Half an hour ago, she had been contentedly chatting with Fides, but then she had decided to talk to Dumbledore and Snape sooner than later. McGonnagal, who she had gone to see in order to get the Headmaster's password to his office, was also listening to Ginny's story. They had all seemed rather disappointed with her, though Snape was the only one to outright voice it.

The walk to the tapestry of Rhea seemed like an eternity to Ginny. She was nervous, she did not think of the ramifications of the spell, and she had tried not to think of how it could have gone wrong. The possibility of whether this spell was enough to get her expelled was something else she was trying hard not to consider.

They had reached the tapestry. Her arm shaking slightly, she pulled back the material and unlocked the door. Dumbledore 'hmm'-ed thoughtfully, as if he had suddenly remembered this room. She pushed opened the door and entered.

It was empty.

Ginny gasped as she started to the bookcase. Something was wrong. The books, the chest, even the cauldron was nowhere to be found. She spun around and faced the teachers, her mouth moving soundlessly.

"Is this some sort of joke, Miss Weasley?" Snape sneered at her unkindly.

"What is the meaning of this?" McGonnagal's regal voice was tinted with annoyance and stress.

"I don't know," Ginny was at a loss. She had left the room tidy, just the way she had found it. She went back to stare at the vacant shelves, and then checked all of the drawers of the desk for anything. Everything was gone.

"I am afraid that I can do nothing to you, Ginevra," Dumbledore spoke for the first time since entering the room. Snape gave him an incredulous look. The Headmaster continued, "If there is no evidence of you ever doing the spell, or using illegal ingredients, or even being out of your dorm late, then I can give you no punishment. Other than giving your teachers, myself included, false information."

Ginny did not mean to gape, but some things just happen.

"So, Minerva, what would you say is appropriate for young Miss Weasley?"

"Yes, _Minerva_, whatever shall you do?" Snape cast a bored expression to the ceiling. Of course, this action is not to be confused with 'rolling one's eyes'.

McGonnagal's smile quirked at Snape, "I do not see fit that punishment is needed…"

"And she says I spoil my students," Snape huffed.

"However, I _wonder_ if it would be suitable that Miss Weasley be restricted to class, the Library, the Dining Hall for the next three weeks and at all other times she should remain in her dorm."

Ginny's face would have made any goldfish proud. She had known McGonnagal to be strict, but this was positively harsh. Even Snape looked a bit taken aback.

"Then again, maybe I do not wonder," McGonnagal turned and stepped out of the study.

Dumbledore, chuckling, followed her. Snape looked a bit irked at having bought McGonnagal's 'detention sentence'. Ginny just sighed in relief.

At least, she would have sighed in relief if Snape had not turned and cast a _Legilemens_ spell at her out of nowhere. Her mind's barriers now went up mechanically, and when the spell hit her, she had the familiar feeling of something cold and slimy digging around her skull. It was an uncomfortable feeling, except when she went to rub at it her hand bounced off the side of her skull. She was grateful Snape was too occupied to notice.

The slimy hand feeling faded, and Snape's eyes refocused. The severe lines on his face lessened, and he announced, "Congratulations Weasley, all the tenants, save you of course, have checked out."

The teachers returned to Dumbledore's office to speak, and Ginny was free to wander back to her dorm. As she walked, the question of what happened to everything in the study nagged at her conscious. She stepped into the common room and someone caught her sight.

"Ashlyn," Ginny stated. Her friend looked up at her pleasantly, smiling and waving her over. She numbly obeyed and sat down in the overly cushioned chair.

Ashlyn was busy sewing a scarf, she held up what she had down so far, and Ginny nodded in approval. "I want to give it to Oliver. He's over there, talking to Harry and Ron right now. Of course, I'll probably just remain the type of girl who admires him from afar, but still the thought of―"

Interrupting her friend, and coming out in a more accusatory voice than either of them would have liked, Ginny said quietly "Have you been to the study behind the tapestry of the dragon and that warrior lately?"

"No, the last time I had to hide in there was…actually it was with you, on Halloween," Ashlyn had been a bit taken aback and looked a bit puzzled at the subject matter. "What's up?"

"Does anyone else know about that room?" Ginny wondered, if someone went in the room to clear it out, then was it possible that they had been in there at an earlier point? Someone could have fiddled with the materials at any point.

"You're the only person that I've told." Ashlyn put her scarf down and gave Ginny her full attention. "Something's wrong. What is it?"

"There were a few things in that room that I used for something before break, and when I went down there today they had vanished," Ginny furrowed her eyebrows and slumped deeper into the chair. "Do you know of anyone who might have access to it?"

"Anyone could have access if they knew it was there."

"I can't believe this," Ginny racked her hair distractedly. "The ingredients could have been tampered with, even the books, his notes, anything! How could I have risked the security?"

"…Uh. Want to fill me in?" Ashlyn asked, still confused as ever.

"Yes, I do. No, I can't," Ginny sat forward. She could not stand the fact that her mind was constantly listing all of the terrible things that could have, or still happen if a person tampered with anything in the room. "I'm going for a walk."

"It's going on eight…" Ashlyn pointed out.

"I'm going to bed."

"It's only eight o'clock…" she said again.

"I'm going to go think for a while." Ginny rubbed at her neck tiredly.

"It's only, wait no, never mind. Go ahead," Ashlyn went back to sewing the scarf.

Ginny grabbed her discarded articles in front of the fire and retreated to her room. She neatly put her things away, and then leaned onto her bed with a heavy sigh. She did not realize when she fell over, falling asleep within a minute after sitting down.

ooo

Ginny was back in the swing of classes in no time. She had stopped worrying about the spell and had decidedly started concentrating on her work instead. Her grades jumped back and she even began to feel more energized as January mowed on. As dismal as the Castle could have been, with most of the students still recovering from the lack of Holidays, Ginny had found the demands of studying almost relaxing. Focusing on her work was giving her much to think about and little time to worry over the past. She participated more in classes and socialized with her classmates, feeling more outgoing than ever before.

"No, really?" Madeline Corial said excitedly as she walked with Ginny to dinner at the end of one fine February day.

"Yep, and I have an especially great Bat Boogey hex too," Ginny laughed. "I used it on Fred and George when I was nine. Of course, Charley was livid when he found out I had used his wand, he ended up getting a warning from the Ministry for it! But, he was more understanding when he saw that my hair wouldn't stop wriggling all over the place that a bunch of snakes."

"Wow, you're so lucky! Growing up in a magical home with six amazing brothers, it must have been great," Madeline said wistfully, still giggling a little. She and her sister were muggle-born. With a sadder tint to her voice, she lamented, "It's going to be really hard for me after Katherine graduates this year. She says she going to live in the Wizarding world, and will have to come visit us at home during the Holidays."

"I know the feeling," Ginny said as they entered the Great Hall, "Both Charley and Bill live away from home. Bill's in Egypt and Charley's in Romania."

The two sat down at the Gryffindor table, where they were soon joined by more second years.

"I can't believe he gave me such a low mark, I worked on that Potion so meticulously." Colin was complaining as he set about getting food. "I mean, I work so hard in that class, doing everything as carefully as possible! Right, Fides? Aren't I really careful?"

Fides Winslow, who was Colin's partner, shrugged her shoulders. "Yea, you're careful. But that doesn't mean you don't cut like your hands are cucumbers. I just don't think you're cut out for Potions work."

There was a collective laugh, and even Colin seemed to agree. "Well, fine. So I'm bad at one thing―"

"Don't forget Transfigurations―"

"Or Charms―"

"And―"

"―Ok," Colin interrupted, a smile tugging at his lips, "So I'm pretty bad at a lot of things, but how did you do, Ginny?"

Ginny, who had been reading her History of Magic notes, looked up at her name, "Huh, what?"

"Colin wants to know how you did in Potions. Not that it will be anything less that your normally perfect marks," said Sycamore.

"Well, I…" her cheeks warmed, and she modestly bowed her head.

"See, I'm her partner, and I can tell you she's like a pro in the subject." Sycamore boasted for her. "Like this one time, I added snail eyes to a potion instead of newt toes, not sure how I managed that, but Ginny was able to tell me how to salvage it anyhow. Well, actually she more than did it herself than tell me."

"I was an easy mistake for anyone to make," Ginny started. Syca gave her a theatrically exasperated look. "Well, OK, maybe it was a very odd mistake, but it was nothing harmful."

"Ginny, the potion started emitting brown smoke."

"Well, just because it wasn't supposed to be smoking―"

"It was supposed to be as solid as molasses, but was instead like vinegar."

"And it wasn't as thick as it should have been―"

"It was dreadful."

"It was easily righted," Ginny said, laughing at the memory despite her better judgment.

"Ginny, admit it, you're a Ravenclaw in Lion's clothing," Colin stated. There was a murmur of agreement.

"I don't think so," Ginny said, "I like to think I am brave too."

"Brave," Fides said, smirking, "You're like a little wisp of a girl, Ginny. What have you done that's brave?"

"I've done plenty of things," she answered, feeling a bit defensive.

"Only because someone's asked you to, but have you done anything spontaneously brave?"

"Well, what have you done that's particularly courageous, Fides?" Ginny turned the tables.

"I fought off a Lethifold by myself," she bragged easily. There were a few gasps, as everyone knew how dangerous those things were. "And I was only ten when it came up on me, if I hadn't done something…"

Her eyes were foreboding, and shining with honesty. Ginny could not believe it, "No way, that's incredible!"

"It was just something I had to do," she held her nose high in the air.

"Last summer someone broke into our home," Madeline started, "I was able to hit him with enough magic to scare him off, though. My mother said that the man could have done anything if I hadn't stopped him."

"I went to France with my Dad to go Troll recruiting, but I ended up having to knock one out when it went bonkers and whacked my Dad with his club," Sycamore said curtly, nodding his head.

"I risk my neck trying to photograph Harry all the time!" Colin piped up, though no one was sure if he was trying to be earnest.

Everyone then glanced at Ginny expectantly. Her mind reeled trying to find something she could share with them, but came up blank. She could not say anything about Riddle, or sneaking around the Castle at night. "Maybe I don't have a heroic story to share, but I―"

"You've been too sheltered by your brothers to do anything," Fides seemed to seal the argument with this. Her smug face dropped, and she added almost reassuringly, "But the sorting hat must have seen something in you if he ended up placing you in Gryffindor."

Ginny would have answered yes, except she that couldn't. She remembered the exact moment when she had been sitting on that stool, the Sorting Hat speaking to her.

'_Ah yes, a bright mind we have here. You would do very well in Ravenclaw, where you'd shine out even in the midst of other great scholars. And, though Helga would love to see your type of loyalty in her house, you are feeling overshadowed by your brothers, are you? Want to prove yourself, I see. Pureblood and deep ambition, Salazar would have modeled his student after you. Slytherin is the house where you could thrive. Oh, but you are brave. Buried deep in your heart, I see it. Yes? You like the idea of Gryffindor, feel you would do best there? Well, all right, if you do insist. You would have been welcomed in Slytherin, but either way, it seems you will be great…GRYFFINDOR!'_

"I have to go," Ginny shoved her notes away and pushed herself up.

"Oh, come on, I didn't mean anything by this, Ginny," Fides said and cocked an eyebrow questioningly. Her smiled faded as it became obvious that Ginny was on the verge of tears. The redhead grabbed her bags and vanished. "Huh, poor thing. She's so teary!"

Ginny did not hear any of the comments as she shrank out of the Great Hall, rubbing at her eyes as she went. She stumbled up the staircases, salty drops still flowing steadily. She thought with a sick twist to her insides, that her friends were right. They all seemed to have proved their Gryffindor valor, while she had done nothing in comparison. Her foot raced for the next step, and hit nothing.

She fell forward and painfully slammed into the staircase, one of her legs dangling in the missing step. Ginny had bitten her lip when she had fallen, and it now was bleeding profusely, the blood mixing with her tears on the tip of her chin.

For a few minutes, she laid there, not moving and crumpled. Everyone was in the Great Hall. She would just have to wait, she thought miserably, for when her friends would find her and likely laugh at how she had gone and managed to get herself hurt.

Ginny heard someone coming down the stairs, and humiliated, buried her face behind her hair. With her voice sore from crying, she said shakily, "Do you think you could help me, please?"

The footsteps stopped on the stair above her head, and she hiccupped. Two spindly hands wrapped securely around her shoulders, and she was gathered in someone's arms. The person smelled like cold air, trees, and strangely of leather. She looked up through her red locks and saw a beautifully familiar face. Her heart missed a beat.

"Sir-Sirius?"

"Miss Weasley," he said, an arrogantly handsome smile lighting his features. He carried her up the stairs, his arms holding her close to his chest. She could hear the steady thump of his heart as he walked, or rather, gracefully floated down the halls.

He stopped in front of a painting and tapped the bed in it twice. It swept open to reveal an enormous―

"Linen closet, the elves keep all the sheets, pillows, comforters and all that other great stuff here," Sirius said as he put her down gently. "I used to hide out in here all the time."

Though the room was amazing huge, they size of a small auditorium, and filled with columns of white sheets, and colored blankets, Ginny was standing for only a second before she had encircled Sirius' waist in a hug. She exclaimed happily, "I can't believe you're back!"

"I told you I'd be back," he stroked her hair and emitted a laugh. Her skin tingled at the sound, and she smiled into his ribs.

"Wait a second," she said and pulled back. She snapped, "What do you think you're doing here?"

He seemed to wilt, "What's wrong?"

"You! You being here, it's not safe! If someone saw you, if you were caught―" Ginny's tears were renewed and she hugged Sirius again, not being able to finish.

"Ginny," he pet her back and lowered to the ground with her, "Listen, nothing's going to happen. Well, I won't be caught. You don't have to worry about anything like that."

He tore a piece of his shirt off and pressed it to her bleeding lip, he brought one of her hands up to hold it there. Sirius continued, "Anyhow, enough about me, how about you?"

Ginny hiccupped again, her eyes wide, "What about me?"

"Well, I come back to find you bruised and bleeding. You've been crying too. What's been going on? Last I heard, there was something about Occlumency lessons with Snape…"

"Well, a lot has happened since Halloween…" Ginny told Sirius everything. She started with the lessons and how Riddle would resurface in her, how she would get his memories. Then she moved onto Implimency. Then to the hidden study and the spell, all of the materials she had used and all of the books she had read. How her schoolwork had suffered, and then how she had finally just gone and performed it. Then she told him about the most recent encounters with Malfoy and her friends. Finally, when her voice and eyes could handle no more, she concluded, "And then I left them, because I was afraid about what the sorting hat had said, and I couldn't stand sitting around them. And that's the last thing that happened, before you found me."

At some point in her story, Ginny had curled up against Sirius's arm and chest while sitting in his lap. She wondered what her parents would do if they saw her now.

"The Sorting Hat was right," Sirius' voice was coming from somewhere above her left ear.

"It was?"

"You are intelligent, and loyal, and determined," his throat vibrated against the side of her head, and she leaned closer into him. "You're also very brave. You try to find the best in a person, no matter who they are said to be, and that's one of the most courageous things you could do. I mean that from personal experience."

She sighed into him as he played with her hair tenderly.

"I'm sure you did everything exactly right for that spell, I know you did," Sirius said sincerely. He asked, "How are your brothers? And Harry?"

Ginny tensed, "They're, uh, they're doing well."

"That's good," Sirius noted her sudden edginess, and dropped the subject. He stroked at the curly end of a lock of her hair. "You should be getting back to your dormitory now, Gin."

"I know." She didn't move.

He laughed and dragged her up with him when he stood. "I would offer to escort you―"

"Don't worry about me. It's you who has a bounty on his head." Ginny exhaled softly. "Just, take care, Sirius. Promise?"

"I promise," he took her in his arms one last time before he was a dog again.

She pushed open the painting door and watched as he shrank away down the corridor. "Bye…"

Ginny walked down the opposite hall, her mind still reeling over her meeting with Sirius. She turned a corner and almost walked into Professor Lupin, but he caught her shoulders before she did.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Professor," Ginny said and collected herself.

"Hullo, Ginny," Lupin's voice was oddly husky. His hold on her shoulders remained firm.

"Professor, are you feeling ill?" She looked over his slightly trembling stance and pale skin, and finally his eyes. Ginny leaned forward on her toes to see that they were amber and glittering with raw emotion. His nose twitched, "Is something―"

Lupin bent down to rest his face in the bend of her neck, and moved his hand through her hair. She could feel the heat radiating off his body. He breathed in through his nose heavily, allowing his eyes to flutter shut. "Your fragrance…it has been tainted…"

He stood back roughly, and seemed to come to his rational senses. The amber tint had faded, and he rubbed at his forehead as if it pained greatly. Lupin sighed, swaying slowly where he stood.

"I'm sorry, Miss Weasley, you'll have to forgive me. It seems I'm running a fever," he said, his voice exhausted. He added almost inaudibly, "For a moment, I could have sworn it was him rounding the corner…"

Ginny's heart was pounding so fast, she was sure if it kept at this rate it would beat right out through her ribcage. She was still crammed against the wall where Lupin had bent over her. Her breathing was sharp and fast, causing her to feel dizzy. "I need to get back to Gryffindor tower, Professor."

"Go, go…" Lupin waved a hand at her dismissively. His voice was still rough, "I need to get back to my office…"

She just swallowed and could not help but duck away and start running. Her heels clicked steadily as she flew up stairs and down halls. Ginny's throat was dry and her ankles must have been bleeding, but she made it to Sir Cadogan without slowing.

The knight bowed at her, his helmet slamming shut over his face. "You look like you've been on quite an expedition my Lady!"

"Yea, yea," Ginny said this password, only to hear Ron's loud voice booming through the common room.

"BLOOD, HE'S GONE! AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?"

From across the room, Ginny could not visually tell what her brother was holding up to Hermione's face, but Ron's face merely reddened as he yelled, "CAT HAIRS, HERMIONE! CROOKSHANKS' CAT HAIRS!"

Ginny wandered over to Fred and George who were, along with every other person in the room, watching the drama between Hermione and Ron. George leaned over to whisper, "Crookshanks finally got to Scabbers, it seems."

ooo

Ginny woke as if something had struck her. It took her a few moments to realize where she was and what was happening. She was in her bed and sleeping, when someone had screamed. She reached out to her bedside table, grabbed her wand, and lit it up. She saw Fides Winslow due the same and bound to the door.

"What's going on?" Madeline Corial turned on her lantern and pulled on a robe over her pajamas before following Fides.

Ashlyn was still dead asleep and snoring softly. Ginny did not wake her as she too headed into the common room where it seemed many people were popping up looking just as bleary eyed and confused.

She heard Ron before she saw him. "Perce — Sirius Black! In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"

Everything went very still. Ginny's legs seemed to turn to jelly and she stumbled backwards. She heard McGonnagal enter and say something, when again Ron spoke up.

"IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE! PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME WITH A KNIFE!"

ooo

The weeks leading up to the Quidditch Final were the worst Ginny had ever endured. Filled with as much guilt as she had experienced last year, she was finding herself unable to do anything with any of the vigor she had acquired after Christmas. She was back to being the miserable, quiet little girl of her first year. She kept seeing herself with Black, handing him her trust, only to have him gleefully smash it into a million pieces. Ginny was driving herself mad with shame and disgrace. She was not brave enough to go to Dumbledore and admit to him what she knew. Ron could have been killed, and as guilty as Neville may have felt for losing the passwords, she felt ten folds worse. She was just as gullible, naïve, and stupidly trusting as ever before.

Hermione was not making things any better. She would seek Ginny out and try to comfort her about Ron, saying that everything would be all right, and then burst into tears. Ginny would end up awkwardly reassuring Hermione that Ron and Harry were not going to get themselves killed or anything of the sort.

The day before the Quidditch final, the atmosphere was heavy with anticipation throughout the entire Castle. Ginny was one of the few at the Library studying for exams. She was doing extra research on mythical beasts, when Luna Lovegood joined her.

"Hello, Ginevra," the blonde said dreamily as she sat down. She eyed Ginny's book and got an interested spark in her eye. "Thrilling subject matter isn't it?"

Ginny laid the book down and nodded, "I guess you could blame Charley for getting me so fascinated with it."

"Dad is having a related article published in the Quibbler in July," Luna said, organizing her own study materials as she spoke.

"Really?"

"Yes, it's on Hybrids, actually." Luna unscrewed her inkwell and continued, "Everyone says that they can't happen. The blood would never be stable for any creature to be procreated. We know that excuse is rubbish, of course. There are plenty of cases of mixed bloodlines, such as Werewolves, and half-Giants, and wizards with Veela or vampire blood."

Ginny furrowed her eyebrows, something was tugging at the back of her mind. She scratched her nose and shrugged instead. "Sounds cool, when's the article coming out?"

"September, I'd expect. Dad's still waiting on an interview from this guy who claims he's part-Veela and his wife had been a werewolf. Of course, that's nothing compared to this Ministry worker who says he has a Heliopath that he's trying to breed with a Thestral. Dad's pretty concerned with that one, says it might be risky to have something like that in our magazine."

"A Thestral?" Ginny tilted her head. "Aren't those the creepy horse things that predict death?"

"Oh, _no_. They are quite harmless, in fact. We have them here at the Castle, you do know," Luna said, her normally large eyes widening.

"I've never seen them."

"Have you ever seen someone die? If you haven't, that's why." Luna's voice was distant. "I saw my Mother pass, that's why I can see them."

"I'm sorry," Ginny cast her eyes downward. "You told me about that, I should have realized."

"Don't be sorry. I'm not," Luna said wisely, and turned her attention to her work. Ginny followed her lead and got back to her studies as well.

ooo

That night, the common room was bursting with excitement from everyone about the Quidditch Cup Final. As much as she wanted Gryffindor to win the match, Ginny found to noise and activity to be a bit overwhelming. Without bidding anyone goodnight, she retreated to her bed around seven that evening.

Early the next morning, a cool breeze woke her up. Ginny sniffed loudly and turned on her side, facing the open window. The moon lit the room and she looked around to find all her roommates well asleep. One was muttering tiredly. Ginny got off the bed and gazing back to the window, she made her way to its ledge.

The rays of the waning moon drifted over the Hogwarts grounds and castle, climbing the stones to Ginny, where it basked her in its ethereal touch. She inhaled the night and sighed, something she had been doing much of late.

Her mind was itching with questions, making her restless. The bedroom was rapidly becoming too restraining, its walls too constraining for her mind. She wanted nothing more than to leave, so she did, grabbing her wand and a cloak as she went. Ginny stayed silent as she crept out of the common room, highly aware of the fact she was out of bed after lights out, yet not caring at the same time.

"_Lumos_," she whispered, not wishing to wake any of the portraits, as the light would be bad enough. A few stirred as she passed, thankfully, none woke.

Walking around Hogwarts Castle in the night is a very different experience than in the day, Ginny decided. There seemed suddenly to be many more routes for her to take. The staircases had switched themselves again since that afternoon, and the corridors were dim. She thought she had been almost at the Great Hall, but found herself in very dungeon-like settings. She realized that she was no longer in a familiar hallway.

"Hello, there!" An alien voice crooned and Ginny stopped abruptly and spun around.

"Who's there? Where are you?" she brandished her wand threateningly. To her, the way was empty.

"I'm right here," the wizened voice spoke again. Ginny turned around once more and spotted a lone portrait on the wall.

Holding her wand up to the painting, she asked, "Who are you?'

"I am Kenelin of Mursdon," the portrayed wizard said pompously, though the name meant nothing to Ginny. She looked at his tunic and lavish robes, his long silvery beard and baldhead, and figured that he must be centuries old.

"My name is Ginny Weasley, nice to meet you Kenelin."

"May I inquire as to why you are down this hallway Miss Weasley?"

Ginny did not have a straightforward answer for him and took to looking down both ends of the passage before she answered, "Just having a stroll around the castle."

"I don't see many students down this way often." Kenelin said this, but Ginny could hear his curiosity for her intentions in his tone of voice.

"Well, Hogwarts is a big place," she trailed off.

"'Tis an odd time to be out for a stroll." He was prompting her again.

"I had trouble sleeping," Ginny answered him awkwardly, looking down at her tatty nightgown.

"Couldn't sleep you say? Well, I always find that reading does the trick. In fact, behind me is a room that is full of great tombs of interest." Kenelin had a lock of his beard in his hand and he was idly curling it as he spoke.

"A hidden library?" Ginny asked, her interest growing.

"It is more or less of an abandoned History of Magical Literature room."

"Sounds good enough, may I enter?"

Kenelin smiled, "Of course. So rare is this, I would not say no." He swung forward and Ginny bounced through the portrait hole.

Inside it was a gloomy and empty room, but the aged smell of ink and books was comforting to her. Ginny did not live for books, maybe last year it could have been argued that she lived for a certain diary, but she was not as avid a reader as Hermione. That was not to say she had never spent nights curled up reading texts into the early morning, though. They had especially been consoling in the hours where sleep would not come, or refuse to be peaceful.

It was this thought in mind that brought Ginny to the expansive shelves crammed with books on the far wall of the classroom. She scanned the titles embossed along the spines, shivering slightly in a cool draft, having not bothered to grab a warm cloak. Her fingers found a particularly ancient tomb, its leather spine wrinkled with age. In very faded silver script read Legend Maker. Ginny pulled it off the shelf, which was a hard task due to the sheer volume of texts crammed into the case, and flipped impatiently to the page of the first chapter.

Something was luring Ginny to the story, she did not know what it was that was so important, but the swelling feeling inside her was telling her she needed this book and the information held within it. She had finally turned to the right page when—

"_With a past like yours Virginia, one should think you would learn not to trust every book you cross so easily._"

Ginny slammed the book shut and spun around, her body shaking. With what emotion she could not tell. Fear, anger, even…anticipation. Was this to be her second chance to right Riddle and prove her worthy? "I've heard your voice one too many times not to know it is you, Tom. Where are you?"

The room was getting cooler, but otherwise remained as it had been when she first entered, empty and gloomy. She drew the book to her chest, clinging to it there, its presence comforting her still.

"_After you got _rid_ of me in the study, I was suddenly free to roam the halls as I pleased. No Gryffindor limbs attached._"

"That can't be, I put you back into that Diary…"

A very arrogant laugh drifted through the room, "_Don't you understand, darling? I meant for you to perform that spell all along. And it is why I am here right now. You likely would never had found out how to do it, if it wasn't for the fact I laid all it out for you, sweetheart._"

Ginny still could see nothing of Riddle. _This is not happening, _she thought as she squinted around the room and took a step towards the door, her breath hitched in her throat.

"_Sorry Red, but there will be no leaving me this time._"

A chair flung itself across the room and slammed into the door, two more piled themselves on top of the first. The cherry wood desk followed, sliding across the floor, four legs screeching as it went.

"Like someone won't hear all this…There's a head boy, a caretaker, and I'm sure a number of teachers walking the halls tonight," Ginny was praying that someone would come, but she had a way of avoiding detection by authoritative figures.

"_No one is near. Even if they were, I have sealed the room with a silencing charm. When they do come, I will be gone, just not before I get what I came for._"

The blinds rattled loudly and the lighter objects in the room began to quiver as a wind picked up, an electric crackle went through the air. Ginny shrieked and dropped to her knees. Something shattered, and books from the case behind her fell forward, several hitting her as they plummeted to the floor. She curled further into a ball and brought one arm to cover her head. His cool laughter reached her ears over the commotion.

"_Ah, Virginia, such a sweet little thing you are,_" now the voice was accompanied by approaching footsteps, "_And such a wonderfully powerful little witch you are too. Yes. Young, but so full of energy. Life and dreams, ambition and will, and the power to back everything up. Just the elixir I need…_" the footsteps stopped. Ginny could see his black shoes shining up at her through her bangs. Then there was a hand as his knees bent downward. The long white fingers found her neck, and lifted her upward.

_DO something! You have a wand! Use it! _ Ginny shut her eyes and clutched at her book. She extracted one hand and reached for her wand…_Just to your pocket…_

"_Sweetheart, you may have your eyes closed, but—_"Riddle's free hand found hers and thread his fingers through her own, "_Nice try…_"

Ginny groaned as he shoved her to the wall, crushing her hand awkwardly against the wooden panels. She opened her eyes.

"_See, was that so hard?_" Tom Riddle was not unlike Harry, but his features were sharper, and darker to Ginny. He had higher cheekbones and a narrower chin. His eyes were a deep blue, and did not seem to favor reflecting light. His hair was black, short of the auburn highlights that Harry had. His skin was pale and clear, his lips a frosted mauve. Ginny had only seen him twice before, and that had been in his diary, a memory he had shared with her, and once in Snape's classroom, when she had looked in the mirror to find him staring back at her.

"_I asked you a question, Ginny, dear, now answer it_," Riddle smiled as he tightened his hold on her neck, squeezing in on her windpipe. Ginny blinked back the tears in her eyes and tried not to choke at the saliva in the back of her throat. "_What's the matter, cat got your tongue? Well, no, I suppose in this case it would be the serpent…_"

His eyes looked thoughtful, and his smirk widened. Riddle let go of her neck and hand, only to grab her shoulders and knock her back into the wall. He fished her wand out from inside her nightgown.

"What are you doing—" she opened her mouth to inquire and maybe scream a bit.

"_Perfect_…" Riddle had other ideas as her secured his hold on her and leaned forward. His lips captured hers, and his tongue slipped into her mouth, sliding over her teeth and then her tongue. Ginny tried to kick out at him, but he had his entire body pressed against hers. She clawed at his shoulders, then his neck and finally his hair. She could feel his smile as she ripped her hands through his hair. Ginny's eyes were screwed shut, her nose wrinkled in disgust, and her lungs were unpleasantly tingling with lack of oxygen. And finally, she stopped resisting.

Riddle laughed into her as he pressed himself firmer against her, his tongue exploring her mouth more as he deepened the torturing kiss. Ginny cried, becoming very weak now. This was a familiar feeling, one she had experienced before in the Chamber. Riddle had returned, had again gotten the best of her, and again was killing her, and she again could do nothing to stop it.

Just as she felt that her lungs were deflating of their last breath, the door slammed open. For a wild second she thought it would be Dumbledore coming to rescue her.

Riddle dropped Ginny at the intrusion and she made acquaintance with the floor once more. She looked up dizzily at what remained of the doorway through her tears, not expecting to find a slightly tousled Slytherin standing in the rubble of the desk, chairs, and door he had blown apart in order to get into the room.

"Nice to finally see you, Tom Riddle," said the silky voice of Blaise Zabini.

oooooo

Author's note: Madeline's fight with the burglar was based on something a friend of mine did when a guy broke into her apartment. Of course, she didn't use magic, but it was still amazingly brave of her!

There must be so much OOC-ness in this chapter. I'm sorry! Hmm, I don't know what else to say. I'm sorry if things seem a bit hard to believe. And as for Sirius smelling of leather, I don't know, I've just always imagined him like a lovable, (sexy, -hehe, did I say that?) roguish motorcyclist with leather chaps. Haha, I know, I know, you probably think I'm batty. So, moving on, there are many clues laid out in the chapter that should make some things a bit more obvious. And, uh, yay for that scene with Draco and Ginny! I had so much fun writing it. And Blaise is back, too! And Tom! I took out the scene with Snape and Ginny doing another Implimency lesson, it didn't really fit well. So, sorry! Though I doubt it was really missed… OK, since I am babbling, I think I'll just stop myself with: I LOVE MY READERS (and reviewers!) SO MUCH! Check out my profile for extra information and updates on new chapters, too!

**Garnet Til Alexandros XIII**: Long reviews are the greatest! Theories are WELCOMED! They're so cool!

**Ciardra**: Sycamore's not _smart_ per se. I have a little write-up on him in my profile if you'd like to read it. It's only a paragraph, but I put it there because it just wouldn't fit into the actual story.


	7. Metuovere

**Author's note**: What can I say? I just like my story and readers too much to just stop writing. Hey, before you go on though, I have some sketches put up on deviantart of the characters. Ya know, in case you want to see how I picture them… or something. Ok, so maybe I am shamelessly plugging…but…yea. Go to spiritphantom dot deviantart dot com to see. Sorry, for the lack of hyperlink…but yea.

Hmm, for some reason, every time I upload the chapter, something goes bizarrely wrong. Like the disclaimer disappearing, the entire thing being underlined, spacing vanishing…Weird. I am so stupid sometimes…

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the affiliated characters and places. All of that belongs to J.K.Rowling and her people. (Man, I haven't used a disclaimer in a while…) 

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Blaise Zabini was not the average wizard his housemates thought they knew. He was a slender young man, with fine black hair, and brown eyes that seemed to have a tint of blue to them. Of course, anyone who knew him well enough could say that he hadn't always been that way. He looked darker this year. The shadows on his face were deeper, his appearance more skeletal, and his smile promised something other than happiness.

What had happened to Master Zabini? People had tried to ask, but they always managed to startle him, and catch him at the wrong time. 'Such a jumpy kid, that one,' they would say and leave him alone. If only Master Malfoy would say what he knew, but 'That would ruin all the fun.'

Draco Malfoy paced around his bedroom. Then stopped, _Malfoys do not pace_. He turned to his friend, who was still asleep. "Wake up, Blaise!"

The boy's head shot up, he looked disoriented for a moment before a sly smirk spread across his face.

"Ah, yes, so nice of you to join us, Zabini," Draco crossed his arms and frowned thoughtfully. "This morning, 10 o'clock, approximately six hours from now, I will be playing against Bloody Saint Pot-head. All I have to do is keep him from getting the Snitch before I do. That's it, nothing else."

Zabini sat up ran his hands over the silky surface of the bed he was sitting on. He drew lazy circles and acted as though he was not paying attention. He shrugged his shoulders after a moment of silence, "Do whatever it takes, Draco. Knock him off his lousy broom if you have to. Shouldn't be too hard, he is a rather weedy little thing, isn't he?"

Draco nodded his head and turned to the window, "So good to have you around, Zabini."

Zabini made to say yes, when he stopped himself. Something was happening, judging by the slight tugging feeling coming from his chest. His smirk grew to a sneer, "So sad it has to end so soon, I was getting rather comfortable in this body."

Draco's 'at ease' posture twitched. His eyebrows furrowed, "What do you mean? You've always had this body."

"Not quite," Zabini laughed, "I've only been in it for a matter of months. The split persona of Blaise Zabini was difficult for me to deal with for a time. Pity it has to end so soon, I was getting rather comfortable. But it's time for me to reunite with _my_ other half."

"What' going on here?" Draco spun around, and trying to remain as calm looking as he could muster, he grit out through his clenched teeth, "Who are you?"

The face of Blaise twisted in a malicious manner, "Riddle."

ooo

The Malfoy boy had struggled with the news. Riddle listened to him damn Ginny Weasley for lying to him, listened to him curse, listened to him complain mostly. Eventually, Riddle had to knock him out and use a memory modifier.

Riddle left Blaise Zabini's body with ease, his essence lingering in the room before setting out of the Slytherin Dormitories. He had felt Ginny's vulnerability through the stonewalls, and was instantly drawn to it. As much as it annoyed him to admit, he needed the brat in order to reunite with the other half of him and to be able to get his body back.

Nearly one year ago, all he had needed was her soul poured into the Diary. When Potter had destroyed the book, it had left his essence without a vessel to occupy. Virginia had awoken, and was too strong for all of him to be drawn back into her immediately. Instead, what was left of him had floated around until he found another body. This new body was of a boy already dealing with a power struggle between two personas.

Blaise Zabini had been born with a curse placed on him by none other than the older version of Tom. Voldermort, upset that the Zabini's had denied to join his ranks, cursed their child to be born with one natural personality, and one inherently evil personality. Every time the child was startled, the dormant personality would become the dominant. Voldemort then killed the man and wife after a hefty torture session.

Riddle waited until the personalities were in the act of switching, when he possessed the boy and overpowered the more evil of the two personalities. He staid patiently inside the boy until Hogwarts was once again in session, the thoughts of a fragile redhead playing endlessly in his mind.

He remembered the fist time he had seen her through Blaise's eyes, and how it aggravated him to find her too powerful for him to immediately steal away her soul and mind. Every time he saw her, she would get stronger and stronger barriers around her mind. Little Red, she was such a feisty thing.

ooo

Blaise woke with a start. He frowned at Draco's form, passed out on the floor, and at the absence of his wand from his bedside table. Blaise closed his eyes and tried to search for Zabini, and found his other personality safely locked away in the back of his mind.

His eyes opened, and he jumped to his feet. Blaise dropped to Draco's side and hurriedly searched his roommate's pocket for a wand. He found it and curled his hands protectively over the wood.

Riddle was gone.

Blaise was running out of the Slytherin room before he even realized his legs were moving. He needed to find Ginny. Once in the Dungeon halls, he stopped and closed his eyes, trying to locate the thin thread that now connected him to Riddle. It was faint, but he could feel it in the air as if it were a physical object. He dared not tug at it, feeling that surprise would be his only advantage over Riddle.

He started running down the murky hallways, following the twist in his gut. His sides were sore, as was his throat, and ankles. He could feel the thread thinning, and felt the influence of Riddle leave his body completely. Blaise stopped and choked on the air his lungs were gulping in thirstily. He leaned forward on his knees, and cursed loudly.

"No reason for that, young man," a portrait said indignantly.

"What do you know," Blaise spat and tried to stand straight. He looked at the lone portrait, scowling. "Have you seen a girl come through here? She has red hair, small figure, freckles."

The old man in the portrait tugged thoughtfully at his beard, and walked to the edge of the painting. "She's inside. You might need a strong unlocking charm for this, I'm afraid."

Blaise watched the man walk off into the unknown beyond the painting's frame. He set his jaw. "_Alohamora!_"

The painting exploded into the room.

ooo

Ginny was kneeling awkwardly on her legs and arms, her limbs numb and her chest aching. Through the veil of red hair in her face, she saw Blaise standing with a wand raised at Riddle, who was holding Ginny's wand. Both their wands snapped to a dueling stance and they shouted spells simultaneously.

"_Expelliarmus!_"

"_Tempestsorcia!_"

Ginny ducked as Tom's body was flung against the wall behind her. There was a crack and a thump as he hit the bookcase and fell to the floor. She turned and saw a very odd thing happening to Riddle's body. It was like looking through a camera and bringing the lens in and out of focus. His body shuddered and disappeared. Ginny's mouth was slack for a moment, but she snapped it shut and started crawling to the door.

Blaise was still conscious, only just barely. He had been knocked over by Riddle's hex, but the spell had not been able to manifest at the strongest since Riddle had been using Ginny's wand. Instead of the force of a concentrated hurricane hitting Blaise, it had been more of a bearable tropical depression. Blaise was merely soaked and wind-ruffled, albeit a bit disorientated. He shook his head, as though to clear it, as Ginny approached him.

"We've got to get out of here," she said tiredly, as she pulled herself to her legs and tried to do the same for Blaise. He nodded, and pushed against the wall to get on his feet. "Good, come on, before he comes back…"

"He's not gone?" Blaise and Ginny hurried out of the room, starting to run down the hallways.

Trying to control her breathing and speak at the same time, Ginny said, "Of course not. It's like the guy can't stay dead!" a thought hit her, "How do you know Riddle?"

"Because a part of him has been sharing room in my head for the past year," Blaise said between huffs. His eyes darted up the hall, looking for any doors. He frowned and held a hand out for Ginny to stop running. They both leaned on the wall for a second before he said, "Something's wrong here. These halls, they've…changed. Everything's moved around on us. Look, the corner we just passed, it's gone!"

Ginny looked behind them, and sure enough, an entire corridor seemed to have vanished. She looked back to Blaise and saw another opening to his left. She pointed, "Look, that wasn't there either."

He nodded and backed off the wall. Still breathing hard, he looked at the new hallway in consideration, "Shall we?"

"Let's go," Ginny said and started running again. The Castle would not move in a way that could get them trapped. She hoped.

After running in the endless maze of passages, it seemed like they were being led in circles. Finally, Ginny saw stairs at the end of the passage they had just run into.

"A way out, took long enough!" Blaise almost laughed as he dug a bit deeper for more energy and started into a sprint. He noticed Ginny match his pace beside him as they neared the steps.

Ginny felt as if she had hit a brick wall. She realized before blacking out, that she had in fact hit a stonewall, and that the staircase had moved right before her foot hit the first step.

ooo

Something unnatural was holding him back, Draco knew. Since waking up on the floor of his empty room more than an hour ago, he had had the strangest feeling. It was as if a hand was latched onto his shoulder, trying to summon him, but only succeeding in slowing his movements down. Even on his broom, he had felt it. Especially as he tried to accelerate, he could feel the force pulling at him, slowing his speed considerably. The Snitch was so close, and then there was Potter. Draco knew he had to do anything to win this game. Nevertheless, his attempts were futile. Potter caught the snitch, and won his team the Quidditch Cup.

Wanting nothing more than to drown, or see Potter drown, Draco slumped his shoulders and huffily walked into the Castle. He could not believe that he had managed to let Potter best him again. He entered the stairs to the Dungeons, the thought of a shower now the most prominent thing on his mind.

"Lousy little piece of —!" The rest of the sentence never reached Draco's ears, but a hefty fist did reach the side of his face instead. He fell heavily to the stone floor, his head ringing. It took him a moment to get up and see a few of his fellow Slytherins surrounding him. They were all older, and much bigger, he noted.

"You don't know who you're messing with, chaps," Draco stood up, wiping at his mouth where he had bitten his lip open. Inwardly, he cursed Goyle and Crabbe for not being at his side.

"Shut your mouth, you pouf!" The seeming leader of the group growled out.

It took much restraint to keep Draco's mouth from dropping open at that. He swung his broom lazily over his right shoulder. He curled his fist and felt his Malfoy signet ring pulsing on his finger.

Forgetting whatever Malfoy Laws there may have been on public displays of muggle fist fighting, Draco drew his left arm back and used the momentum of his entire upper body to slug the guy in front of him across the temple. Draco wanted to yell out '_timber!_' as the giant form collapsed to the ground, but held his tongue.

"Now the rest of you, get the bloody hell out of my way!" He stormed off towards the Great Hall, trying to walk off his anger and high adrenaline level.

When his legs had carried him a good distance, and his heart rate had finally dropped to a safe level, he decided to head back to his common room. When he reached the entrance to the dungeons again, he noticed two people following him from the corner of his eye. Knowing immediately, since their stealth skills lacked greatly, that they were not in Slytherin, he decided against returning straight to the Slytherin dormitories, and instead chose to take his followers on a detour instead.

Draco successfully led them far away from the dungeon dormitories, and feeling confident that they couldn't get anywhere near them either, he turned to face his followers.

He cocked his head as two girls stopped ten feet from him. The pair consisted of a dotty-looking Ravenclaw and an alluring Gryffindor. _Wait, an alluring Gryffindork? Two words that should never be in the same thought…_ Draco sneered at them, "What do you two freaks want?"

The Ravenclaw had a vague look to her eyes, but said in a rather serious tone, "We're looking for our friend, Ginny. Have you seen her, Malfoy?"

"Of course he's seen her! Probably did something horrible to her!" the Gryffindor's face scrunched as she shouted at him accusingly. She flipped a strand of silvery hair over her shoulder and huffed, "Just tell us where she is."

"Bugger off," Draco said, his nose twitching in annoyance. He was in no mood for false accusations. He pushed roughly past the two girls and stalked off.

Or, rather, attempted to stalk off.

"Have you seen her?" the Ravenclaw asked, tagging after him.

"No."

"She's been gone all day, and I know how you hate the Weasleys, you probably did something to her!" The Gryffindor muttered from behind him.

Draco did a fast one-eighty, glaring at the girl, "I did no such thing, you stupid Gryff! Get off my neck, will you? I don't know where the little Weasel has gotten herself, and I don't bloody care!"

"That's interesting," the vague blonde said, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to Draco. Instead, she was looking at the walls.

"What?" Draco glared at her, trying to snuff his temper.

"The walls have moved," she pointed to a spot behind his shoulder.

"Of course they haven't, you loony bint!" Draco turned, and felt his mouth drop slightly. He was looking at a dead end. "Oh, this is bloody fantastic! I'm stuck in the dungeons with two nutcases!"

He ignored the nasty glare he got from the Gryffindor, and looked at the Ravenclaw. "You're _supposed_ to be smart, get us out of here. Oh forget it, I'll do it myself!"

"The Castle obviously wants you to do something," the Ravenclaw said quietly.

"Oh yes, because the Castle really thinks for itself, now does it?" Draco had started walking again, trying to look as though he knew where he was going. He heard the Ravenclaw converse with the Gryffindork as whether to they should continue following him.

"He's being a big lousy prat Luna, why should we go after him? Plus, I doubt he has any idea where he's going down here."

Suddenly feeling the need to prove himself, Draco scoffed loudly, "Follow me, my unfortunate mates. I'll get us out of here in no time —"

All three of them yelled as the floor gave an unexpected lurch as it started rapidly moving and shifting position, with them still on it. Draco fell to his knees with force as the Castle's hallway dragged them to an unknown location. And, just when his insides had had enough of the jerking movement, the floor halted. He kept his eyes closed for a moment, trying to will his head to stop pounding and his stomach to stop churning.

Draco pushed himself up to a crouched position, his eyes still shut tightly. He heard the girls moaning as well, they seemed to have had a bit of disorientation problems as well. He opened his eyes finally, and let a short gasp escape his mouth.

"Oh Merlin! Ginny!" One of the girls, Draco assumed it to be the rather loud Gryffindor, shouted exactly what he was thinking. Not a few meters from him was the crumpled form of Ginny Weasley.

Leaping to his feet, faster than he would have thought possible, Draco was quickly at her side. He held back another gasp as his eyes fell to the form beside Ginny. It was Blaise Zabini. Forgetting the redhead at the sight of his deathly-looking friend, he leaned over her and checked Blaise for a pulse and sighed with relief. Admittedly, as Draco looked over Blaise, his friend did look rather different. As if he had had a dark shadow lifted from his shoulders.

"Why are they both in their pajamas?" Luna, the Ravenclaw, asked vaguely.

Draco hadn't realized this detail, and felt a blush rise to his cheeks at the Weasley's attire. He was at least a meter away from the girl faster than he could blink.

"Who's the bloke?" The Gryffindor looked accusingly at Draco, as if he had planned all along for the Weasley and Blaise to be found suspiciously asleep in a dimly lit room, in their night garments.

"Blaise Zabini," Draco answered, scowling at her. He walked widely around the two unconscious forms until he was at Blaise's side. Gently shaking his friend's shoulder, he tried to wake him up. "Come on, mate. Get yourself up, now."

He noticed Luna take out her wand. Draco cocked an eyebrow when she pointed it at Blaise.

"_Innerviate_," she said, and instantly Blaise's eyes opened and he sat up so fast that he knocked Draco in the forehead.

"Watch't!"

Blaise didn't even notice as he got to his feet, looking around them with panic written over his face, "Oh shit, shit! What're you all doing here? Where are we? I've got to get Ginny out of here! Come on, close your mouths, we've got to move!"

Luna and the Gryff were glaring at Blaise as his mouth ran in a crazed fashion, looking at him as if he had gone mad.

Draco was quite convinced his pal was mental, "Calm down, and drop the Weasley will you?"

Blaise was trying to lift the still unconscious Ginny to her feet. He stopped at Draco's voice, halfway supporting to the redhead off the floor. "You don't understand, we've got to find Snape, Dumbledore, anyone before Riddle finds us!"

"_Too late for that, I'm afraid._"

All four heads snapped simultaneously to the orientation of the new voice. Draco's gaze met that of a slightly blurred-around-the-edges boy looking no older than seventeen. He had a sinking feeling in his gut of who this apparition of a boy was.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" The Gryff asked angrily. She obviously wasn't amused.

The boy's eyes traveled over the five of them, and landed on Draco, who he addressed first, "_Ah, yes. Young Malfoy, of course. I followed your aura here, thank you for leading me to Virginia._"

_Who the heck is Virginia?_ Draco thought. He looked closer at the stranger, and noted the outdated robes and hairstyle. It was as if the person had walked right out of the fifties.

"_Blaise Zabini, as tousled-looking as always,_" the boy continued, his eyes moving on. Blaise bristled and gained the look of a corned cat.

The boy looked at Luna next, "_Don't know you, don't really care. A Ravenclaw are you? Always thought you lot were a bit too arrogant for my taste_…"

The Gryffindor snorted at that, "You're the only arrogant person I see here. Now answer my question, who are you? I know for a fact that Ginny's brother is Head Boy this year. What are you, some kind of imposter?"

"_I am no imposter! How dare you!_" he hissed.

"He's Tom Riddle," Draco said flatly.

Riddle ignored him, and continued glaring at the girl. "_I remember you, now. Yes, there's something unnatural about you…Quite a dark aura surrounding you, there is._"

Draco saw the Gryffindor's eyes widen, and immediately she clenched her mouth shut.

"_Since the cataleptic Virginia is giving me her energy once more, let us have some fun…_" said Riddle, withdrawing a wand from within his robes. He brandished the wood gracefully, and sealed the room. With the three separate spells. "_No chance for you this time, I'm afraid._"

Blaise uttered a growl-like noise.

"I don't care who you are, or what you may know, but I'm not afraid of you!" shouted the Gryffindor, stepping forward bravely. And quite stupidly, Draco thought.

"Ashlyn, don't," Luna warned, getting to her legs as well.

"_Splendid idea, my dear. You may not be afraid of me, yet, but how about we all find out just what your greatest fears are,_" a sickening smile spread across Riddle's handsome face. "_I imagine that you all have your fears, yes?_"

Draco inadvertently thought of his deepest fear. He looked over the others, and saw each of them flinch or twist uncomfortably. His eyes landed on Weasley briefly, and Draco's insides churned unpleasantly.

Riddle laughed. It would have been a charming sound, Draco mused, if it were not for the fact it was laced with evil, "_Well, how about you have a chance to meet your fear head on?_"

"What's he on about?" Blaise questioned, still holding onto Ginny protectively. Draco just shrugged in response.

"I'm not going to take this," Ashlyn, Draco now knew the Gryffindor to be named, flung her wand arm out a feral look in her eyes, "_Petrifi_—"

Riddle's spell cut her voice off, "—_Metuovere!_"

Draco heard Ashlyn scream out and watched as her spine arched backwards, her arms tense and her hands stretched like claws.

There was another shriek, this one from Luna. He looked to find the Ravenclaw stretching her arms in front of her as if she were trying to get her hands as far away from her body as possible. Draco's mouth was agape, realizing she was doing this for good reason. Both her hands had erupted into two fiery balls, which were climbing threateningly up her forearms.

Caught in an appalled fascination, Draco didn't notice Blaise until his friend had yelped out in pain. Turning to look at his fellow Slytherin, he watched in horror as Blaise seemed to be splitting down the middle in two. Literally. Draco opened his mouth in something faintly short of terror as Blaise was painfully yanked until there were two of his best friends breathing heavily as they stood opposite one another.

One Blaise remained in the striped pajama set, but the other had a completely different look to him. Physically, the second Blaise had longer, wilder hair, and looked a bit stronger than the former. His clothes were modern cut robes, with a definite 'hardcore' theme to them. Even in the midst of everything, Draco still had time to be repulsed at the rough and rugged look to them. That oddly dressed thing was most definitely not Blaise.

Finally, Draco's eyes dropped to the small form that was still limp on the floor. As he was being pulled apart, Blaise had dropped the Weasley, and now as Draco looked over the crimson crowned angel, he came face to face with his most feared of all his fears. He was overpoweringly in love with the filthy, muggle-loving, freckle-faced, red-haired Gryffindor, and by-association friend of Harry Potter, Ginevra Weasley.

ooo

"My sweet, wake up…"

The smooth voice filtered into her ears, reaching her closed mind. Ginny suddenly realized that her head was throbbing, as was the rest of her body. The pain was almost overwhelming and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep, the darkness such a welcoming presence.

"You're beautiful, like an angel. Please let heaven know that I need you more than anything…"

Someone was whispering into her ear. She shivered at the feel of their breath against her ear.

"I need you now, we all do…Please _wake up!_"

She could feel arms wrapped around her, but the darkness was too tempting. If she could only sleep for a little while more…

"It's Riddle, he's back…_it's Riddle…_"

Riddle. The name triggered something in Ginny's mind. Tom… It was as if a barrier had been broken, and a tremendous amount of noise reached Ginny's ear. She was aware of commotion around her, screams, pain. She blinked her eyes open, willing the darkness away. She needed to get up, now.

"Malfoy," Ginny's eyes had opened and she spoke the name of the very blurry person who was hovering over her. Ignoring the pain throughout her body, she shoved him away from her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I was watching you sleep!" He told her simply, a smile across his face.

"Yea, you think?" Ginny said, rubbing at her temples. Her eyes finally took in everything that was happening around she and Malfoy and she swore loudly.

The room was very large, and completely made of stone. The ceiling was something left to be promised, being that all four sides of the room ran straight up until fading into darkness. The expansive walls were carved decoratively, punctured by Romanesque columns and long windows that had no scenery to depict, only darkness. There were no furnishings in the room, besides a throne at one end. It was elegant, but simple. Atop it sat Tom Riddle.

Ginny's eyes landed on Riddle for only a second, before loud yells and shouts deterred her thoughts.

Scattered around the room were her friends, and Malfoy. Closest to her, other than Malfoy, was Blaise Zabini. Two of him. Both Blaises were looked in a duel, using both their wands and limbs to hurt one another. Luna was further away, backed against a wall, and seemed to on fire. The only view she had of Ashlyn was a very silvery heap on the floor.

She looked at Malfoy, who had a clouded look to his eyes, and trying her best to ignore his rather odd attitude, she said, "Well, get out your wand! We have to help them!" Ginny's hand went automatically to her pocket—

Her smooth pajama nightgown greeted her fingers instead of her school robes. Mortified, she hugged herself and tried to cover as much of her exposed skin as she could. Malfoy cocked his head at her, a warm smile spreading across his face. "Don't worry, my sweet, you look like an angel—"

"_Ginny!_"

Draco and Ginny both looked at Luna, who had pushed herself off the wall (leaving a trail of flames from where her hands had hit the stone). Luna was gesturing wildly with her fiery hands. It took a moment for Ginny to realize that the Ravenclaw was trying to draw attention to Ashlyn.

Casting a worried glance at the Blaises (which Ginny was still very confused about), and trying not to look at the guaranteed smug look on Riddle's face, Ginny ran to her fellow Gryffindor's side. Noticing the seizure-like jerks and movements, she gently kneeled down to Ashlyn and tried to grab her shoulders. "Ashlyn, what's going on? Look, at me what's happening?"

"I―I should've told someone sooner, but I c-couldn't!" Ashlyn painfully growled out between yelps of discomfort. She was collapsed on her knees, leaning forward with her arms now wrapped protectively around her abdomen. Ginny asked what she was talking about, and Ashlyn said, "G-ginny, I think I'm c-cursed! I k-know I have veela-b-blood in me from my d-dad, b-but it's like I've b-been b-bitten…"

Ginny was rubbing Ashlyn's shoulder in what she hoped was a comforting motion, she looked at Draco for help. He just gave Ginny thumbs up and said she looked amazing, which she in turn ignored. "Bitten? When? By what?"

At this, Ashlyn started to bring her shoulders up, and the locks of hair in front of her face seemed to drift eerily out of the way, exposing face. Ginny gasped and retracted her hand to her chest in surprise. Ashlyn's face was definitely not as it should have been. Her eyelashes had grown bushier and darker, surrounding two completely black eyes. Ashlyn opened her mouth in a panting fashion, her canine teeth and fangs glistening from behind dark lips, and answered, "A w-werewolf. But I swear, I've never b-been bitten!"

"Have you, —before—, —the moon?—, —have you transformed at all—?" Ginny's mind seemed to have deflated. "Wait, you're part-Veela? That explains some things…"

Ashlyn doubled over again, choking out yells, "I've never fully Changed before…b-but I can _feel_ it coming… It's that spell! Ginny, you've got t-to help me—"

Jumping back away from Ashlyn as the girl unleashed a rather howlish groan, Ginny scanned the room. _Maybe if we could block her off…I can't keep her from changing, but maybe if she could be quartered off!_ Unfortunately, there seemed to be nothing around she could use. All that came to sight was Riddle, who was sending random hexes at the two Blaises joyfully, watching as they continued to duke it out. Then Ginny saw Luna, she was crying slightly and looking perplexedly at her hands, not quite sure what to do with them.

"Luna, I need you!" Ginny called out. She waved a hand to summon the Ravenclaw.

Luna just looked at her blankly, "I can't do anything for you. I'm afraid I can't even get to my wand…"

"Listen," she said, a plan forming in her head, "You don't need a wand to help me! Just, listen, look at me, use your hands to your advantage! What are you afraid of?"

"The fire, it'll spread," Luna said quietly, regarding her hands thoughtfully, "Just like the Heliopaths…it'll destroy everything"

Trying not too panic, Ginny was watching as Ashlyn's body convulsed and her muscles started shifting, a thick coat of black and grey hair tearing over her body. Ginny swallowed a lump in her throat and looked back at Luna, "Please, Luna, just lean over―" she demonstrated walking a line with her hand dragging along the floor as she went "―like this…and draw…a circle around Ashlyn. Luna, please!"

Biting her bottom lip, Luna contemplated her hands again. Ginny tried not to jump up and down, but Ashlyn's arms were more of front legs and paws by now, and her ears had moved doggedly up the side of her skull. "Please, Luna, now or never!"

And finally the blonde nodded her hand and began tracing a large circle around Ashlyn's form. Ginny began backing away, and subsequently walked right into Malfoy. She turned to look at him, and stiffened as he embraced her strongly. Rolling her eyes, and still at a complete loss over his change of heart, she pushed away from.

"What is going on here? Riddle did something to all of you," Ginny said, stating the obvious and hoping Malfoy would fill in the details for her.

"Yes, he did!" Malfoy exclaimed airily, happily taking hold of Ginny's hands and swinging them with his enthusiastically. "He has opened my heart to you! I love you, Ginny. Everything about you, from your poor blood-traitor parents all the way to your red hair and freckles!"

"Yea, that's great, but _how_ did he do this?"

"Well, I know, —for the others of course—, he used a spell that manifested their worst fears into a physical being or ailment," Draco said, gently massaging Ginny's hands. He gave her a bright smile, "No idea what he did with me, but I feel _amazing_! Except, I'm afraid my hair has lost some of its sheen, but no mind. Anyhow, I simply—"

"—Am obsessed with me," Ginny finished, breaking her hands away from his and brushing past, "Yea, yea, I've noticed… So what's happened with Blaise?"

Malfoy answered, "He has two personalities. Looks as if his fear is that his 'bad' side would get out and beat the hell out of him. Good old Zabini, he was much fun for parties. You see, I always referred to 'big-bad' Blaise as Zabini, and the 'good-original-nice-guy' Blaise as, well, Blaise."

Luna joined them as Malfoy finished, "I did three separate layers of circles, but I don't think it will do us much good, Ginny."

Ginny turned around, and sure enough, through the many tongues of fire, she could see Ashlyn nearly fully transformed at this point. Her veelawolf form was turning out to be of considerable size. The creature would likely weigh one hundred and forty pounds at the least. The predatory cat-like hind legs and elongated torso would likely mean that the veelawolf would have no trouble bounding over the firewalls. Ginny sighed, and started to turn around to figure out what she was going to do with Blaise, when a chilling howl reached the air.

Everyone in the room stopped and looked over to where Ashlyn had been laying not moments before. In her place was an enormous wolfish creatures, but with strange adaptations. The front paws were still quite long, resembling talons more than anything else. The hind legs bent forward as did a human's, but it looked as if the ankles had been stretched over a foot with new bones, efficiently separating one leg into three segments and a long talon-like paw at the end. As well as the obvious anatomical differences between Ashlyn and a regular werewolf was the coat of hair that was eerily curling a floating off the veelawolf's back. The tail was more of a mane of feathery hair than a normal wolf tail.

Ginny's observation was cut short when the veelawolf stood back on its hind legs and sniffed the air. Another long howl escaped its mouth. Then, it jumped.

Or flew, Ginny rather thought marveling at the creature's grace, out of the rings of fire. It landed silently on the stone floor only thirty feet from where Ginny, Luna, and Malfoy stood. Snarling and bearing its teeth, the veelawolf flicked its tail, its eyes clearly stating that it was hungry. Ginny suddenly felt sympathy for any meal she had ever consumed, knowing how it must have felt to know it was about to be eaten.

"You know, I have nothing against half-breeds," Malfoy announced suddenly to Ginny, his happy and proud voice resounding in the room as if there were ten of him. It was like Ginny's mouth melted off her face at his boisterous statement, and she realized the spell must have zapped Malfoy's brain. Or maybe he just wanted to die faster.

At the sound of Malfoy's voice, the veelawolf had perked its ears and growled as if recognizing that it would be eating very soon. Ginny watched as it lowered to the ground, realizing a second too late that it was about to pounce. The large creature was soaring through the air, talon-like claws spread wide and ready to rip apart anything that they landed on. As her eminent death launched at her, Ginny had one last instinct to swing her arms above her head, and saw through the gaps of her arms the veelawolf's claws a meter from her. She was going to be shredded apart.

WHAM!

Before the veelawolf had actually hit her, Ginny was thrown backwards by an invisible force and her back hit the ground hard, her head hitting the floor with a sickening crack. Another large thump made the entire room shake as something very heavy dropped to the floor. There was a muffled yell, a scream, and whimpering barks. Ignoring the enormous amount of pain flooding her head, Ginny rolled onto her stomach and pushed to her feet. A heavy cloak of dust that had been kicked up in the room, instantly assaulted her eyes and mouth. She coughed as she stumbled around blindly with an arm stretched out in front of her. Immediately she called out, "Malfoy? …Luna?"

"Ginny! Love, you alright?" Malfoy's voice was stricken with concern. "Follow my voice…"

As hard as the floor may have been trying, the dust just did not want to leave the air. It was heavy and disorientating. Ginny inched along, her eyes clamped shut against the offending dust, and her outstretched arm finally hit what felt like an iron bar vertical to the ground. Scrunching her eyes shut, Ginny felt another vertical bar with her other hand. Fastening her hands around the bars, Ginny shook them and called, "Malfoy? Malfoy, where are you—"

Suddenly the bars Ginny had been gripping were struck heavily from the other side, accompanied by vicious barking and snarling. Screaming, Ginny fumbled backwards, anywhere away from the bars.

"No! _No, stop _it! Ginny!" Luna's yells rang through the dust. "I don't want to! No, don't!"

The Ravenclaws screams were joined by more masculine cries, and a jolt in Ginny's stomach told her it was Malfoy's voice.

Forgetting any caution, Ginny turned to the source of the sound and started running flat out. The dust thinned, and from within it, she could see into the front of the room. What first met her eyes was Luna striking Malfoy's back with her arms as if they were whips. Riddle was still atop his throne, a wildly gleeful smile playing on his lips.

"Draco Malfoy, disobey me again, and I promise the punishment will be much worse. Stop, Miss Ravenclaw," Riddle said coolly.

Luna was crying by the time she could finally step away from Malfoy. She looked from her fiery hands to Riddle and back to her hands, with a horrified expression. Very carefully, Luna dropped to the ground, hiding her face so that she couldn't see Malfoy's scorched back.

Sick of what she was seeing, Ginny finally emerged from the dust clouds, which had slowly been fading anyway. She started forward, when something grabbed her roughly around her arms. "What the hell—"

It was Zabini. He smirked as he pushed her in front of him and lead her to Riddle, placing cords around her wrists as he did so. Stopping a little distance from its base, he pushed Ginny into a kneeling position, and said, "She's yours, if I get the other one."

"…Yes, of course," Riddle stood and descended the steps of his throne slowly. "Feel free to do as you please with Blaise. He is of no more use to me, kill him if you wish."

As Zabini hurried off, Ginny lifted herself off the floor, refusing to bow before Riddle. She felt he would probably be enraged with her doing so, but she took her chances. Safely on her two feet, Ginny glared up at Riddle, trying to squelch her incredible fear. She was surprised to find him quite the contrary to livid at her disobedience. He kept walking closer to her, his vague smirk never fading. She growled out, "Stay away from me you sick creep!"

"Little Red, my darling Virginia," he said in a way that some may have confused with charming. He stopped walking once he was within arms reach from her. His handsome face glowed ethereally. "For one year you have evaded me, locked yourself away… Tried to rid your feelings for me…"

"The only _feelings_ I have for you are ones of disgust," Ginny said honestly, ignoring the fast beating of her heart. She did only have feelings of disgust for Riddle, now.

His face didn't change at her retort, Riddle merely continued as if she hadn't spoken, "Seeking help from Severus for you to resist me. Silly girl, silly Ginny, you should have known he couldn't help you. He remains loyal to me; I am sure. I could feel it radiating off him."

"He remains…" Ginny closed her mouth, she had always heard that Snape was a Death Eater, but she still couldn't bring herself to believe it. Dumbledore trusts Snape, surely he would know if he were a Death Eater.

"None of that means anything now, don't fret, I have you," Riddle brought his hand to Ginny's cheek and traced her jaw line.

She narrowed her eyes, refraining from spitting at him, she snapped her teeth at his hands instead. Ginny got her desired effect of him withdrawing his hand. "You will never have me."

He laughed at her, his arrogance returning as he stroked her hair. "Our souls are linked together. You are mine, and you will be."

"I'll never belong to you," Ginny said, her voice quiet and cutting.

Riddle's eyes flowed over Ginny, and he seemed to cluck his tongue in disapproval, "What do you mean my little Virginia? You already belong to me. Why, just look at your arm…"

A sharp pain, which Ginny hadn't noticed earlier but somehow felt as if it had been there since she woke up, ran through her lower her arm as he finished his sentence. She looked down at her pale complexion, and caught a sob in her throat.

Glowing with a hideously dark radiance was the Dark Mark, burned into her skin for eternity. Her eyes wide and filled with a deep terror, she looked up at Riddle, her voice gone. Whatever flame of defiance she had within her was doused.

"It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it, pet?" Riddle laid both his long-fingered hands on each of Ginny's shoulders, then let them slip down her sides appreciatively. He clicked his tongue again, rubbing the fabric of her nightgown between his fingers. "Now, how about something more …appropriate for you to wear, Virginia?"

Ginny's muscle had frozen on her. She just watched as Tom drew her wand, did a complicated flick, and uttered a spell. A very odd feeling struck over her skin as her nightgown split into pieces and started spinning over her skin and changing texture and color as it was tugged and pulled in different directions. When it was finished and Riddle was pleased, Ginny looked down at herself. She resembled a trashy Raggedy Anne doll. Even her hair seemed to have arranged itself into curled pigtails on either side of her head.

Riddle laughed deeply, pleased with his work. He grabbed her shoulders and spun her backwards into him, leaning his head into the bend of her neck. He inhaled and sighed, "See what fun we're having, Red…"

Ginny just looked out at her friends, and Malfoy, and though she wanted to scream and protest, all she could do was stare. The veelawolf was pacing around and around in the giant birdcage contraption Riddle had trapped it in, its tail flicking in an aggravated fashion. Malfoy was still on his knees, screaming in agony as Luna was forced to slash him with her hands every time he breathed too deeply or tried to steal a glance at Ginny. Zabini had what appeared to be a collar around Blaise's neck, and was taking pleasure in kicking Blaise's knees out from under him repeatedly.

"This is fun?" she said, her mouth dry and her eyes wet.

Riddle draped his arms around her waist and let his hands link between her hips. He purred into her ear, "Yes. But of course, there's a difference between fun and pleasure…"

"Ginny, _no!_"

The outcry made Riddle stand straight again, growling through grit teeth.

"Don't let him get to you," Malfoy shouted, only be struck by the reluctant Luna as he did so. He tore his mouth open and hollered in frustration and agony, and then slumped over.

"His pain and fears feed me, did you know?" Riddle said almost cheerfully to Ginny. He was the worst form of a Dementor, she thought. A serious expression crossed his face, and he peered into her eyes, then said, "There's more from you—" his eyes fell slightly "—that I require…"

Her body shuddered.

"I know you," Riddle slipped his arms around her again, "I know your desires, Virginia…"

"You do," Ginny admitted quietly before she closed her eyes and felt Riddle's lips flutter hungrily over her neck.

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**Author's note**: Thanks to all my readers! You guys freakin' rock. Questions are welcomed!

Next Chapter – _A Tip from Salazar_… It's the final chapter! Of course, then there's a short epilogue…


	8. A Tip from Salazar

**_(Please Read!)_ Author's note**: Yay, the last chapter is here! All I have to say is that I am very sorry. I went to a website that has this write up all about these lovely things called 'Mary Sues'. And guess what? I am teh Queen of teh Mary Sues! Which is rather like being a queen of foot fungus. Le sigh. Apparently, having an OC that is a hybrid is a no-no, and they can't have cool names that the author likes. They're also not supposed to be pretty, or have any other character acknowledge that they are pretty. Other characters can't like the OC either. And it's not just original characters that can be Mary Sues too! Ginny is one as well! I've made her too smart, well liked, and attractive! Which is true, I've made almost no enemies for little Ginevra in this story. Which is why, in Part Two, I have created several big-scary-scaly-unpleasant meanies for Ginny to deal with.

**Warning!** There is some very unpleasant stuff in this chapter. It is not for the faint of heart! Of course, I may be exaggerating, but I just want you readers to be aware that some depressing or upsetting stuff may happen in this chapter. Proceed at your own risk of discomfort.

**serenity's hell**: I am so sorry to hear that! That's creepy! Hopefully this chapter will put those dreams to rest. And hopefully this chapter won't be really lame…

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Riddle continued his ravenous assault on Ginny's neck as she stood quietly staring over his shoulder at the stonewall. Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest, though it was the only part of her body that seemed to be moving. She felt even her lungs were not moving with each breath she took, as if she was undeserving of the oxygen. Was this it, had she again given in to Tom Riddle. Was she really a follower of the self-proclaimed Dark Lord?

His lips met the cool metal of the necklace around her neck, and they curved into a smile. "No one will ever touch you…" he said, pausing as he rested his lips on her skin, "You are a part of me, now. And I you, did you realize?"

Ginny didn't answer him, not knowing what to say. Then, something he had said earlier came swimming back into her thoughts. She knew her smile must have looked twisted, back was thankful no one could see it. Riddle was too busy tearing his hands through her hair, which he had undone from its plaits.

"I want to have some more, _fun_," she announced suddenly, allowing her arms to slip around Riddle's neck as he leaned back to look at her. Ginny slid a smirk across her face, "After all, we do still have guests…"

Ginny held her grip around Riddle's neck as he glanced at the odd bunch of prisoners littered in front of the throne. He mirrored her smirk and looked down at her. "Are you sure they mean enough for an interruption, Red?"

"I think," Ginny paused to rest her head on his chest and placed a few butterfly kisses on his exposed skin, which was cold as ice to her lips. Then she continued, "This will be more pleasurable once we don't have such unworthy eyes watching. Why don't we just let Zabini deal with them, once you lift the spell from the wolf…"

He looked into her face, sweeping a few hairs away from her eyes, "I have a better idea. How about we let the wolf deal with the rest of them?"

"As you wish," Ginny punctured each word with another kiss. She let a soft moan escape her lips when Riddle stepped out of reach. He laughed haughtily, and appreciatively, at it. She watched as he lifted the giant iron cage off the ground with one lavish movement from her wand.

Zabini, Blaise, and Luna all turned as one to watch, terrified, as the cage disappeared into the ceiling. "What the bloody hell is going on?" Zabini asked no one in particular. He looked up at Riddle and yelled out a few good cusses.

"It's like watching a sport," Riddle commented as the veelawolf chanced a step out from where the cage's boundaries had previously been. It tested the borders several more times with its paw before it was satisfied. "Look at them, they are like a bunch of trapped rabbits."

Luna looked down at the unconscious Malfoy and tried unsuccessfully to pick him up without lighting him on fire. Ginny watched as Luna rubbed at her forehead with her upper arm and attempted to move Malfoy with her feet.

Riddle laughed at Luna's efforts, "Stop trying to be so noble, Miss Ravenclaw."

Zabini whipped his wand out and started yelling curses and hexes at the approaching veelawolf. This only spurred it on, and in a matter of seconds, it was running full speed at him. Riddle laughed uncontrollably as Zabini shot a levitating spell at the veelawolf and lifted it ten feet into the air, where it whimpered horribly and began thrashing wildly at the air.

"That won't help you, Zabini," Riddle called coolly, "I can already see the strain that it cost you to initially get the beast into the air. I doubt you'll be able to hold it up much longer…"

Ginny had stopped watching, for another pair of eyes had locked with hers. Hunched over and in a clear amount of pain, Blaise was openly gazing at Ginny with a look of contempt. His face was covered in sweat, dirt, and blood, and he looked more dangerous than she had ever thought possible. His eyes were void of any fear, and she knew that all the anger in them was pointed directly at her. His lips moved ever so slightly, mouthing the word 'traitor'. She looked away.

Her gaze swept to Riddle, who was thrilled with watching Zabini trying to hit the veelawolf with paralyzing spells and _Stupify_, all of which missed or seemed to have no effect on it. His handsome face twisted in a wild fashion, and Ginny realized this would be the only chance she had as Riddle was finally distracted enough.

She began searching around the room with her eyes, hoping to find something close enough that she could use. She turned around a little, and that's when she saw it. It was leaning innocently against Riddle's throne. Sliding her foot backwards, she made to reach for it, when a piercing scream stopped her.

Ginny looked down at the scene in front of her just as the veelawolf made a lounge at Luna. Her heart stopped as she realized she had allowed for one of her friends to die.

Luna fell backwards to the floor, inadvertently throwing her arms over her face. The two fiery hands connected directly with the veelawolf's neck. Reeling onto its hind legs, the veelawolf promptly forgot about the trapped Luna beneath it and leapt away from her. It stopped running only when it had reached at least twenty yards from Luna.

Amazed and thankful, Ginny quietly tried to slow her heartbeat.

This was as good a time as any, and she cast a glance out the corner of her eye to the throne. It was an object of beauty, with emeralds lavishly carved into the hilt, and the silver detailing running up the curved blade of the dagger. She wondered how she had failed to notice it before, but pushed the thought aside as she swooped down and snatched it into her hands. This was it, this was the only way she'd ever be free of Riddle. Quickly and quietly, she concealed the blade in her sleeve, which was ironically loose and long enough to perfectly hide it and allow for easy access. She snapped back to place at Riddle's side just as he turned to wrap an arm around her waist possessively.

Tilting his head slightly, Riddle looked at her regretfully. Her heart stopped, and instantly she knew that he had seen her. He brought her wand to up to his face, and held it there for a second. Ginny waited for him to aim it at her, almost hoping he would just get it over with. But then, without a word he lowered it again and smiled vaguely at her. "You are mine, yes," he said soothingly, "Until the day you die,_ Virginia_."

He swept a lock of her hair away from her neck, and fingered her skin. He pulled back the collar of her shirt and ran his hand over her bare shoulder. Ginny felt the dagger slip a quarter of an inch down her arm, and swallowed loudly.

"Do you feel you know what's coming? I suppose you should, after all, I'll hardly need you around forever. Only a few months longer, and I'll be through with you. There will be no more reason to have you around, and our bond will dissipate," Riddle was explaining something to Ginny, but she couldn't hear him properly over pumping of blood in her head. He bent down to let his mouth rest on her skin, and said into her, "This will hurt you more than it will me, my little Red…"

He opened his mouth and sank his extraordinarily sharp teeth into her skin, letting her blood spill down her chest and back.

It was at that moment she acted.

The blade struck his forearms first, and Riddle jumped away from her in astonishment clutching at his wound, her wand falling out of his grasp. A staining stream of blood ran down the blade that Ginny was now holding in front of her threateningly. She made a quick glance to the ground to see where he had thrown her wand, but could not see it anywhere and figured it must have rolled over the throne's edge. She swore under her breath.

"What is going on here?" he hissed out, his shock quickly changing to anger.

"You had this coming to you Riddle," she spat at him. She had said it as more of a distraction, but reasoned that it was true. He had too much faith in his year-old knowledge of her and in his spell.

"Do not call me such a defiled name! I am Lord Voldemort!" his handsome features darkened as he made a grab for her at managed to snag one of her sleeves. "How dare you…"

She made a swing with the dagger at his chest, but he again caught her. This time it was her wrist, and he painfully twisted it until the weapon slipped from her grasp. Ginny heard it clatter down the steps, Riddle's laughter joining the noise.

"My little Red, how feisty you can be," he said, regaining his composure. He tightened his vice-like grip on her wrist and drew her into his chest. "Such a little thing you are, but so full of energy…"

She wriggled against him, her mind racing. She had to do something to get to her wand. Even if it meant 'playing a bit dirty' as Fred or George would have said mischievously. She stopped struggling. Ginny tilted her head up to Riddle's, making sure her eyes were wide and her expression one of 'all hope is lost'. She cried out quietly, "T-tom…p-please d-don't be mad! I-I'm just so sc-scared!"

His face didn't soften, but his words did, "You should be afraid. I am what you fear most, after all…"

"Oh Tom, why c-can't you b-be kind t-to me like last year? You m-made m-me feel so c-comfortable! I loved n-no one more than you!" she sobbed out, burying her face in his chest, popping a foot into the air dramatically. His grip lessened slightly.

"I am not one to be, uh, kind, is it? However, I am still prepared to offer you that, _comfort_, which you seek," he said, his voice very low, almost charming.

"You so c-confident, Tom," she whispered just as quietly, then dug her heel into his left foot until she heard something crack, but she didn't stop there. She swung the same leg up hoping to strike his stomach, but missed. Instead, she hit a bit lower, but the effect was desirable all the same, and Riddle doubled over slightly.

Ginny was too afraid to laugh at the sight. She backed away from him, and the floor disappeared from behind her. Too late, she realized that she had come to the top of the stairs, and she was suddenly rolling head over heels down the stone steps. Her hand hit something sharp as she fell. After many spiraling rotations, she came to a stop at the bottom of the steps.

Blaise, who was now crouched over Malfoy, looked up in surprise at her literal trip down the steps. His mouth fell in confusion, "Ginny, what—?"

Ignoring Blaise as best she could and grumbling from the throbbing sensation throughout her body, she tried to push herself up. There was a sharp pain in her palm, and she saw that it was bleeding profusely, the cause of which was lying not a foot from her. As she had fallen, she had knocked the dagger down with her, cutting her hand in the process.

In final desperation, an idea came to her, and Ginny knew what she was to do, no matter how cowardly it was. She grabbed the weapon, ignoring the gruesome gash the handle was pressing into, and stood shakily on her feet. Deliberately, she brought the blade tip to her chest.

Riddle was hobbling down the steps —but managing to do it in a graceful manner all the same— with his eyes trained on her. He almost lost his balance when he saw what she was doing, her intentions deathly clear. Riddle stopped in his tracks, and narrowed his eyes. When he spoke, his voice had gone hoarse, "You wouldn't do it. You have wanted this power, this _recognition_, for too long! You can't…It's a bluff, I know you…"

A sick smile spread across her face, her sadness making its appearance haunting, "No, you _should_ have known that I would never join you. No matter what tricks you pulled or promises you made. You have no control over me."

"Virginia," he took another step. "Don't do this to me! To us! _Virginia!_"

"My name is Ginevra, Tom Riddle." She swung her hand out and back into her chest with as much strength as she could. It was enough force to make her stumble backwards as the dagger hit her. The blade struck her skin and sliced through it easily, as if she were hollow inside. It delved deep into her body until the hilt her skin.

Her eyes were frozen open, and she saw with satisfaction as a lightning bolt fracture ran through Riddle before he exploded in a mixture of startling light and disturbing shadows. Ginny sank to her knees and fell over on her side, her last breath over with before she even hit the stone floor.

ooo

Blaise watched, stunned, as Ginny's small frame went limp and fell silently to the ground. His breath caught in his throat and he completely forgot about Riddle, and Malfoy who was moaning beneath him. His blood was pounding so hard in his head, that he couldn't hear anything else. All Blaise could think about was the little red haired girl who had just driven a dagger through her chest, knowing that it was the only way for her to rid the world from the memory of the young Dark Lord. It had only cost her life; the pool of blood spreading around her was proof of what she had sacrificed.

He got to his feet slowly and began to wander his way towards the crimson framed girl on the floor. He watched the pooling red liquid gather area as he neared.

Blaise stopped suddenly; there was a tug at his sleeve. It was Luna Lovegood. He was baffled for a moment at her touch, before realizing that Riddle's fear spell must have worn off after he vanished. To verify this even further, he saw over Luna's head, Draco was awakening from his knockout and the Gryffindor with the werewolf curse was back to her normal state albeit passed out.

"My nails are black," Luna said, her voice echoing loudly in Blaise's ears. She held them up for him to see, and indeed, her fingernails looked as if they had been charred. "Funny, they don't hurt."

A little sigh snapped Blaise's eyes back to Ginny. His heart skipped a beat, but his mind was telling him he must have been hearing things. Surely, that could not have been Ginny. But there it was again, she _had_ stirred.

"Ginny!" he yelled, sounding astonished, hopeful, and thankful all at once. He raced to her side, knowing instantly that he had to get the dagger out of her. Gripping it with two hands, praying that he was doing the right thing, he slid it out of the wound in her chest.

It was as if the air around them released a great sigh, and at once the pool of blood around looked as if a sponge were sucking it all back into her chest. It slinked back into the hole in her chest and when it returned safely inside, the wound began to stitch itself up as a needle would a rip in a shirt. Finally, the stitching ceased, and all that remained of Ginny's lesion was an oddly curved scar. Blaise looked down at the weapon in his hands, and saw how the metal was molded to look like an 'S' at the base of the blade.

Still quite bewildered, Blaise jumped when a very raspy gasp came from Ginny. She coughed several times, and then blinked her eyes open. It was one of the most beautiful and distressing sights Blaise had ever witnessed.

"Oh Ginny," someone spoke the words on his mind, and Blaise saw that it was Luna. She had come and knelt next to Ginny as well, but he hadn't even noticed. "You're going to be okay, I don't think any Fragnledaks managed to get into your bloodstream."

The redhead's face was one of confusion for a long moment. Then, "Did you die? I wasn't fast enough to save you?"

Blaise almost laughed, but it came out closer to a sob, "We're fine. Ginny, you aren't dead."

"Then, Riddle's not gone," her eyes watered, "I can't even kill myself correctly."

"Stop that," Luna said sharply, even all the while calmly. She took a breath and continued in a softer tone, "If I am correct, the fear spell Tom Riddle used, Metuovere, made your fear that you would join him reluctantly, and in the end have to commit suicide in order to escape him and redeem yourself, come true. His spell made our fears physically manifest, and when you drove that thing into your chest, it was enough to sever the bond that was keeping him in this world. But when he disappeared, his spell lost the power behind it, and faded. That's why my hands are not on fire any more, but my fingers remain black as if they had been burned."

"What about Malfoy and Ashlyn…" Blaise lost track of Ginny's voice as Luna's words suddenly brought something to his mind. If Riddle's spell had separated him and Zabini, then where had Zabini gone when he died? Blaise's head shot up and he began scanning the room for any sign of his other side. But all that he saw was Ashlyn and Draco. He looked back down to the floor and closed his eyes, searching inside of him for Zabini, but he came up short. His other personality was nowhere to be found.

There was a hand on his shoulder, and Blaise realized Ginny was using him to push herself off the ground, saying something about how she had to help Ashlyn. He rose with her even though he was in a daze. Where had Zabini gone…

Then, effectively stopping his train of thought, he felt a soft pressure on his cheek that was pleasantly warm. He looked down and saw Ginny smiling up at him. He blinked as she mouthed the word 'thanks' and hurried off with Luna to the other Gryffindor. He rubbed at his face, not sure if that had really just happened.

o o o

He had a terrible headache, was the conclusion Draco Malfoy came to as he pushed himself off the ground with his arms. He rubbed at his temples distractedly, not quite certain of what had happened in the past few hours. A pair of running footsteps brought his attention to the Weasley and the Ravenclaw. Draco was still at a loss, but as his eyes took in their appearances, everything came flooding back to him, making his head hurt worse. He remembered Riddle, the spell, the werewolf thing, and…

Ginny.

The very same Ginny that was now running past him. Wait, running past him? He turned to see where she was going, and saw her drop down beside the other Gryffindor, Ashlyn, the half-breed. He groaned, had he really said that he didn't mind half-breeds aloud?

"You alright there, mate?"

"Blaise?" Draco was confused, but not about his friend. "I—I, I don't _really_ like half-breeds. You know that, right?"

A small smile lit his friends face up, "Your secret's safe with me, Draco."

"And, and, the whole thing with Weasley…it wasn't _her_ per se. I'm just afraid I'll end up in love with any old muggle-lover, not _her_ at all," he said quickly, hoping against hope that his friend would understand. "_She_ just happened to be there."

His thoughts on Ginny halted. Draco looked at his friend, knowing his face must look odd, but he asked anyway, "Where's Zabini? 'He back in your head or something?"

Blaise's face darkened, "I don't know. He's seemed to have made a break for it. But he's definitely not up in here," he said, tapping his head for emphasis.

"_Accio Malfoy's Quidditch cloak_," a voice said calmly, and Draco felt something tugging his cloak off his shoulders.

"What the bloody fu—" Draco cried indignantly as he ensued in a wrestling match with his cloak, which seemed determined to free itself of him. It won, and he watched it zoom off into the Weasley's hands. "Why the heck did you do that?"

She gave him a stern look, "Because, my friend here kind of needs some clothes you dolt!"

Draco's cheeks flushed and he turned around abruptly and saw Blaise do the same. He should have known the werewolf girl would have been…unclothed. He said sulkily, "Well fine then, just don't try and give that cloak back to me after she's touched it!"

"Shut it!" he heard the Weasley snap back.

"I'm _never_ going to end up with that absolute hag of a filthy blood traitor," Draco huffed under his breath, crossing his arms.

"Well, all the better for me," Blaise laughed. Then, "Ow! What was that for?"

"Nothin'."

o o o

Ginny swung the velvety swathe over her tearful friend and tried to usher comforting things to Ashlyn. "Don't worry, it's not your fault…You couldn't stop it…There was nothing you could do…"

"I am quite unharmed," Luna said vaguely to Ashlyn, though Ginny could the statement was strained.

"I-I c-can't b-believe this happened!" Ashlyn's tears flowed twice as hard, and she wrapped Draco's cloak further around her. She was still kneeling on the floor haplessly, looking all the worse for wear. Her hair was knotted and wild, her face smudged with dirt, her feet and hands filthy. "I d-don't kn-know what I'm g-going t-to do!"

"Shh…you're going to go to the hospital wing with us, and get cleaned up. Then, you're going to tell Dumbledore everything. I promise he'll help you," Ginny said, meaning every word.

"What if he k-kicks me out of sch-school?" she sobbed louder and buried her head in Ginny's arms.

"We should be going now," Luna said, noting the hysteria rising in Ashlyn's voice. She helped Ginny get her to her on her legs. "Can you walk?"

Ashlyn made a barely audible answer of 'yes'.

The three, with Luna and Ginny supporting Ashlyn between them, made their way over to where Blaise and Draco were standing. Both their faces were flushed, and Blaise seemed to be tending to his arm as if he had been hit.

"How are you, Malfoy?" Luna asked as they approached. Malfoy just shrugged his shoulders and glared in another direction.

"So, to the hospital wing now," Ginny announced, feeling the need to say something. She ignored the pain in her chest as she adjusted her hold around Ashlyn. "Oh wait… I forgot, the walls…"

All five looked at the room around them, as if expecting the walls suddenly to snap back to their normal positions.

"Well this just bites," Blaise said, then let out a yelp as he fell to the ground, for the floor had suddenly sprung forward.

All five were on the ground in heaps, when it stopped moving. "Gods, I never want to do that ever again! Twice in one day is quite enough," Ginny heard Malfoy declare as she rubbed at her head. She looked over at Ashlyn and Luna, making sure that they were all right, she said, "So I'm guessing the floor's moved before, huh?"

"Feels like it happened ages ago," Luna admitted, getting to her feet as she spoke. She gave Ginny a hand before they both helped Ashlyn up. "At least it seems someone knows where we are now…"

Blaise was almost jumping up and down, but seemed to have enough restraint so that only the balls of his feet were bouncing. He was saying excitedly, "This is amazing, just down this hall…we'll be at the entrance to the dungeons in no time, and from there it's just a little walk to the hospital wing…"

"I don't think I have to go, you know, with all of you, to the infirmary," Malfoy said slowly, he looked to be hiding from Blaise's gaze. And for good reason, because Blaise started angrily pointing out the fact that Malfoy's back was covered in burns. "They don't hurt…much. I doubt they're even there anymore, I mean, my cloak looks quite unharmed."

"Which is why you screamed out in pain when the floor moved, because it didn't hurt?" Ginny asked a little too sweetly to be sincere. She raised her eyebrows at him expectantly.

He didn't answer, but glared at her darkly.

"That's a good point you raised," Luna said vaguely as they walked up the Dungeon stairs to the Entrance Hall. Ginny looked at her, prompting her to continue. So, she did, saying, "Even though the spell ended, some of it was undone, yet remnants of it can be felt as well. I suppose it wasn't a very stable spell that Tom Riddle used…"

There was a pause in the conversation as Ashlyn lost consciousness, and they had to float her the rest of the way.

"It seems to have had lingering effects on all us, that is, besides Malfoy and you, Ginny," Luna ended pensively.

Ginny offered a shaky smile, trying hard to ignore the pain in her chest. "That's odd isn't it."

"Maybe for you, Weaslette, but not for me," Malfoy drawled from in front of them. He was walking ahead of Blaise, his pace fast and nervously erratic. "I had no lasting effects."

"Maybe that's because your fears were too shallow to have any real effects."

"The fear of being bonded in a relationship to a mublood-loving, ugly-haired, blood-traitor like _you_, is not shallow! Especially one that thinks she's Merlin's gift to the world and that everybody loves her, when really every body wishes she would just go away and stop causing them such trouble!"

Ginny's comeback about being pale and pointy-faced died on her lips, and she quieted. No one said anything to contradict Malfoy, and she had a sinking feeling that on some level they all agreed with him. _At least Ashlyn's knocked out, so she has an excuse…_

"Well, here we are. Good thing Madame Pomfrey doesn't ask questions," Blaise announced uneasily in the waking silence. He knocked loudly on the infirmary door.

Within minutes, Ashlyn and Malfoy were whisked away to the back of the hospital wing, having the most pronounced injuries. Ginny, Luna, and Blaise were left sitting awkwardly on one of the beds, silence having befallen them finally. Almost absently, Ginny reached to rub at her aching shoulder, remembering only then that she had been bitten by Riddle there. She ran her hand over the skin, expecting to find some sort of indent or mark, but came up empty handed. This was odd, she thought, being that Riddle's bite was not part of the spell, therefore; the mark should not have faded.

But the absent bite mark quickly became the last thing on her mind as the pain in her chest finally became so intense that she had to warrant it some attention. Ginny doubled over and fell off the bed, which she had been sitting against, to her knees on the floor. She heard Blaise calling for Madame Pomfrey in the distance, but could have sworn she remembered himstanding right beside her.

Just as her vision started to darken, Luna's voice drifted hazily into her ears, "Maybe the spell did leave an effect on her after all…"

o o o

Dumbledore was just rising from his desk for bed, when green flames erupted in his fireplace and the pale spinning head of Madame Pomfrey appeared in it. She stopped moving after a few seconds, but her face was filled with worry and remained faint. "Albus, I believe it would be best for you to get down here…"

"What is it, Poppy," he asked, stooping over to talk with her.

"I've just had five children arrive in the hospital wing, one of whom was unconscious when she arrived, another had what appear to be burns on his back, and a second girl has just fainted…"

"Their names?"

"One's the Weasley girl—" she began, but Dumbledore held up a hand for her to stop. Bending back up, he said tiredly, "I'll be right there, Poppy."

On his walk to the infirmary, Dumbledore thought over all the things he had started putting together the past months, and how the information would effect the young Weasley. He had half a mind to tell her, but knew it would do her no good to have such troublesome knowledge. She was only a child, after all.

Dumbledore entered the hospital wing, not wait for Madame Pomfrey to let him in. Before checking on Ginevra's status, he quietly visited the other occupants of the room, finding two Slytherins, a Ravenclaw, and two Gryffindors in total. He thought it a rather odd combination, especially the presence of one Draco Malfoy. He shook his head sadly after turning away from the Malfoy boy.

Lastly, he arrived at Ginevra's bed. Madame Pomfrey was finishing up the last few medicinal spells when he cleared his throat softly.

"I believe, if it is possible, that now would be an appropriate time to wake her?" It was more of a statement than a question. Madame Pomfrey's eyebrows creased, but she nodded her head grudgingly. She said indignantly, "I figured as much, Headmaster, when I called you down, but please make this quick. She suffered a considerable amount of internal bleeding."

He nodded his head as watched as the girl was awoken. Ginevra seemed to struggle with releasing sleep's comforting grasp, but when her eyes caught Dumbledore's she seemed to perk immediately. She tried to sit up, but rather dizzily collapsed back into her pillows.

"I realize that you must have been through a great ordeal tonight, due to your current state and those of your friends, but I must ask of you to explain what happened," he said quietly. "This has something to do with the memory of Tom Riddle, I presume."

"Y-yes, it did," she managed to heave herself into a sitting position, "I guess it all started with the Diary, of course. I'm—, I hope you don't mind if I start from the beginning, sir…"

"Go ahead, Miss Weasley." As she talked, he probed her mind gently, making sure she left out nothing. Her frequent yawns and trailing sentences were a bit hard for him to follow, as it were, so it was best to see the images straight from her mind.

"I had no idea that he had…fiddled with the spell, of course—" she yawned again, "But he told me that he had done the alterations when he had possessed me that Quidditch match when Harry collapsed…Oh, Harry…"

Dumbledore let her trail off tiredly, a small smiling tugging at his lips with her last words. Deciding to skip ahead in the story, he asked, "And when Riddle appeared in this old History of Magical Literature classroom, he…" Dumbledore tried to be tactful with his words, "Acquired your energy through an oral exchange, did he?"

"Yes, it was like…a Dementor, how I've always imagined one. It was dreadful… He said he needed me for my soul, or something. He said his soul and mine would, be connected, or something…" she said lamely, knowing how inadequate her answer must have been. Dumbledore, however, found it to be quite useful.

"His soul, did he say?"

She bounced her head up and down, then said, "Strange, isn't it? A soul inside a book…"

"It's a very powerful and rare spell. It is Dark Magic," he said almost to himself. His working theory was starting to gain physical evidence.

The little girl in front of him tensed, and her expression became one of a person much older and wiser than any child should be. "I expect splitting his soul, Vuh―Vv… You-Know-Who, thought he could leave a part of him behind immortally in that book."

"I am thinking about something along those lines." Dumbledore considered her silently for a moment. "Please, continue…"

He listened to her explain the Zabini boy's arrival, and how the Castle walls and floors had changed. Dumbledore thought this rather odd, but admitted he knew very little of Hogwarts' secrets. She went on about how she had come to in a large, unfamiliar room in the Dungeons, but could not explain how Ashlyn Wischard, Luna Lovegood, and Draco Malfoy had gotten there.

"He must've cast this spell while I was out. Something about making our worst fears come true. It made Ashlyn—" she stopped suddenly, her eyes widening as she looked at him.

"It is all right, I know about your friend, Miss Wischard. You needn't worry right now. I am also aware of Mister Zabini's rather unusual condition," he said calmly and asked her to continue. She seemed to mumble over the part about Riddle's —close contact— with her, but he could see the images from her mind clearly. Dumbledore closed his eyes for a moment.

"…The finally, right after Luna, oh Luna…Well, right after she was knocked over, I found this dagger on the ground. It was odd, you know? I hadn't noticed it before, but that didn't keep me from picking it up…"

Dumbledore opened his eyes again and probed Ginny's mind gently, trying to find an image of the weapon. He asked, "What did it look like?", and a image of it fluttered immediately into her head. His eyebrows creased. The only known relic of Salazar Slytherin's was a ring, but the dagger he saw from her memories was one that was easily identified as the Founder's. "Do you know what happened to the dagger, Ginevra?"

"No, I don't. Why?" Her eyes were wide with fear and curiosity.

"It was of great importance at one point in time. It belonged to Salazar Slytherin."

The girl's mouth dropped, and she appeared disgusted. "Why would _that_ have been there?"

"Your fear of having to," he wanted to say this as tastefully as possible but found no way to do so, and said "Your fear of killing yourself, demanded that his spell procure an object with which you were to harm yourself. So, in a rather ironic fashion, Riddle's spell delivered Salazar's dagger for you. The Magic behind the spell must have been extremely powerful to summon a weapon that has been lost to history for centuries."

"In the end, I really wouldn't have cared if it had given me a spoon to work with, I was so desperate to b-be rid of him…" he heard her sob as she buried her face in her hands. "I t-tried to b-be strong, Headmaster. I really d-did."

Dumbledore did not make to move, but said, "It was a brave thing of you to sacrifice your life for the sake of others. Facing death as you did…is something Tom Riddle could and still cannot bear to do himself."

Her cries did not lessen, but he could tell that she had heard him. Eventually she looked up at him through her wet fingers and calmed herself once more. "He hoped to escape death by splitting his soul," he heard her whisper. Dumbledore barely nodded his head a fraction of an inch. He decided then that she had talked enough for tonight.

"I believe this is enough for me to mull over for now," he told her softly, his eyes twinkling from behind his spectacles. "Maybe a celebratory feast to ease your—"

She interrupted him quickly, "No, no! I-I mean, that wouldn't be such a great idea. I don't want people t-to know…about what happened tonight. Especially my family! When they hear about this, I'll be taken out of Hogwarts for sure…Please don't tell anyone, Headmaster…"

Dumbledore realized that tonight five children were placed in extreme danger, their lives at risks, the whole Wizarding World a step away from disaster from the memory of Tom Riddle. He knew all of this, but he also knew that before him lay a child of no more than twelve pleading with him to stay at the school she loved. Much like another child he knew. He sighed, "Well then, I suppose forty house points to each of you will have to do. I daresay you need not worry about your parents, either."

He turned to leave, but stopped and looked back at her, "Forgive me, but you are the, ah, seventh Weasley child, of course…"

"Yes, Headmaster," she answered him quietly, and he knew she was unsure of what he meant.

"Yes, yes, I see that the Diary made it's way into your hands for a reason." Seven, he knew, was a very powerful number when it came to magic. He smiled at her, and new to expect great things to come from the girl in front of him..

"Headmaster!" a shrilly whisper made both Dumbledore and Ginny jump. They turned their heads to see Madame Pomfrey poking her head through the bed curtains and frowning disapprovingly. "You know that this child needs her rest, now if you would kindly let her rest!"

Crinkling his eyes with a smile, and looking sheepish, he made his way past Poppy and away from the girl's bed, Dumbledore continued his thoughts on the littlest Weasley. It seemed she would be doing the great things, and as of now at least, for the right side.

o o o

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**Author's note**: Yea, it was lame, wasn't it? I mean, you all were probably expecting it. You see, it's also bad to make your character kill themselves and then have other characters mourn his or her death. That's too Mary Sue-ish. And, I cannot write Dumbledore's character for my life! GAH! He's too smart for me to accurately portray! The Epilogue/chapter nine will be up in a couple of days. It's finished, but I don't want to double post chapters. So yea, REVIEW and TELL ME WHETHER YOU HATE OR LOVE IT, PLEASE. Reviews are the greatest! Thanks to all of my lovely readers!


	9. Until We Meet Again

**Author's note**: Well, this is it, the epilogue. Err, I hope people are still reading my story and enjoying some of it.

**Disclaimer: ** Plot and original characters are mine. Otherwise, everything is JKRowling's.

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Ginny was allowed to leave hospital wing three days after her conversation with the Headmaster. Her chest was sore, but the bleeding had ceased and healed a full day before she had been discharged. The only thing that remained painful was the curvy, 'S' shaped scar on her bosom. None of the ointments and potions that Madame Pomfrey had were able to clear it. Ginny didn't mind so much in the end, realizing that it was proof of her bravery. Of the sacrifice she knew she was capable of making if need be.

Dragging her unruly hair into a ponytail, and glancing one last time at Ashlyn's still occupied bed, she left the infirmary.

And bumped into Harry Potter the first corner she turned.

They both bounced off each other and landing unceremoniously on their bottoms. Harry seemed surprised to see her, and said, "Ginny? Where have you been?"

Blushing to the roots of her hair, she was sure, Ginny got to her feet shakily. She didn't know how to answer his question, so she told him the first thing that came to mind, "In the infirmary! I had, uh, cramps!"

She clapped her hands over her mouth, realizing her amazing and mortifying error a second too late. There was a very long, long moment in which neither of them said anything. Ginny wanted to be anywhere other than there. _Why the heck did I have to say that to _him_ of the people in this school!_

He finally cleared his throat, seemingly very embarrassed, "Uh, I've got to go now."

"Me too," she squeaked and darted away down the corridor, cursing herself for being so completely stupid and for not thinking before she answered people. But not just any people, it was always _Harry_ she had to look like a fool around! He would always see her as such an idiot if all she could do around him was twitter and say the most inappropriate and random things.

She was sprinting past the Great Hall, when a familiar face caught her eyes inside. It seemed to be the end of lunch as many students were slowly filing out of the room. Ginny brought her dash down to a jog and headed over to Blaise.

"Blaise, wait up!" she called, waving her hand as she neared him, her earlier embarrassment forgotten.

He twisted around to look at her, and smiled uneasily, "Believe me Ginny, with your hair, you really don't need to wave."

She reached his side giggling, and bent forward to catch her breath. It was at that point she saw who was with Blaise. Draco Malfoy sneered at her and crossed his arms haughtily. "So, to what do I owe this most unpleasant interruption, oh one-who-almost-got-me-killed? By the way, how's the detention treating you?"

"Shut it, Malfoy. I'm not here to talk to you," she said, trying not to think of the impossibly long detention Snape had given her. Of course, Snape had claimed it was for Ginny being out after lights, but in reality it was for putting Malfoy's precious little neck at risk with Riddle. _Pfft, it's not like I asked him to be there! I can't believe Snape played favoritism like that! Well, maybe I can…_ Ginny rubbed at eyes and to stop thinking about the nights of torture she would have to endure, and looked at Blaise. At his soft smile and for his sweet demeanor, her eyes misted. "Blaise, how are you doing? I-I hadn't a chance to thank you f-for what you did the other night…"

He smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders, "What are friends for?"

Malfoy pretended to gag behind Blaise's shoulder. Ginny resolutely ignored him, and concentrated on Blaise instead. Knowing that her eyes were watering, for a reason she couldn't quite admit to herself, she said, "I'm happy to hear you still feel that way!"

"But you know, you did thank me," he said quietly, a blush creeping across his cheeks.

"That's enough!" Malfoy flushed as he jumped between Ginny and Blaise, holding his arms out to distance them. He focused on Blaise as he complained, "We _do_ have exams to study for, Blaise! Now leave this tramp and let us go!"

Ginny grit her teeth at his crude word, but to her surprise, she saw Blaise smile and pat his friend on the back, saying, "Oh, you know you don't mean that!" She felt her mouth slack, _Of course Malfoy meant that!_

But Malfoy's complexion seemed to acquire a green tint to it as he gazed helplessly at Blaise. In what would have been a dangerous manner if he hadn't looked so seasick, he hissed quietly, "What are you implying Blaise?"

"Oh nothing," Blaise smiled and sidestepped his friend to reach Ginny. "So, I'll be seeing you around, Red?"

Ginny's eyes dropped at the nickname, and Blaise's face paled as well. Closing her eyes for a second, she sighed and said, "Err— no, don't worry, you can still call me that…I mean, just because Riddle used to call me that doesn't mean you shouldn't."

He nodded his head, and did something very peculiar. He hugged her. She had just enough time to realize his arms were around her, before they were gone. This action had been the last straw for Malfoy, who then dragged Blaise off to the Dungeons in a very brusque fashion. She just stood silently in their wake, unsure what the hug had meant. _Blaise and I are friends, he must have meant the hug to be taken in that way…Friends, yupp._

She shook her head as if to clear it, and quietly moved towards the staircases that lead up to Gryffindor tower. As she entered through the portrait hole, she saw Fred and George turn to see who it was. Their faces simultaneously broke into smiles, then frowns, then smiles again, and they rushed over to tackle her in an embrace. She was bombarded about why she had been in the hospital wing, why did she have on such odd clothes, whether she felt ill and how Harry had said something about clamps when they had seen him.

"Did he mean bad clams, you think Gred?" George asked over her head, as she was squished between the twins in a double hug. She tried to mumble out something about her lack of breathing, but came up with a raspy sounding exhalation instead.

"Clams? I doubt it, unless he'd been talking about some of our stuff," Fred answered seriously, then gazed happily down at Ginny. His mouth twitched as he looked at her red face, before telling his twin that maybe they should release her for a bit. "Anyhow, so was that why you were really down there?"

"We started to worry after a while, you know. Thought something had happened to you—"

"—hadn't seen you for days—"

"—didn't hear anything from anyone, though—"

"—and then you suddenly show up in the halls—"

"—bumping into Harry while you're at it—"

"—so we figured you can't have been that bad off—"

"—if you still managed to embarrass yourself in front of him, like always," George finished, a wide smile reaching to his ears.

Ginny's mouth fell open, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"That we're happy to see that you are well, dear sister, is all," Fred said clapping her on the back, causing her knees to bend forward. "Oh, watch it there. Anyhow, we were about to write Mum—"

"You didn't did you?" She realized her voice may have sounded a bit edgy and suspicious, because the twins each gave her a curious look.

"Nope, thought if it was anything important that Madam Pomfrey would contact Mum and Dad herself. Besides, we've had a few things to work on lately…" George said trailing off.

"Like what?"

"Turns out we have our O.W.L.s this year," Fred said, laughing and shrugging his shoulders. "Too bad we really didn't care to listen to the last few months of review and practice for the exams."

Ginny laughed with them with them at that, but still found herself a bit worried for the twins. Of course, she did have an amazing amount of faith in their future joke shop. They had already promised her a summer job if their mother would allow.

"So, as long as you're all right…?"

"I'm fine, I just had some chest pains," she assured them somewhat honestly and started to the girl's dormitory, wanting nothing more than to get into her own clothes and to relax. Walking up the stairs she passed a very teary-eyed Hermione, who was weighed down with at least ten textbooks in her arms. She might not have even seen Ginny if she hadn't lost control of her studying material and knocked into her. Ginny bent down to help pick up the books.

"Oh gosh, Ginny!" Hermione said, her mouth making an 'o' shape. "I'm so sorry, I could hardly see where I was going."

"It's no trouble… where are you heading with all these?"

"Just to the common room, I thought I could manage the trip without magic, but I suppose I was wrong." She straightened back up, trying to arrange the books in her arms in an advantageous way to carry them. "So, anyhow, I trust you're feeling better? That's good…I b-better go. I have so much work to do!"

Ginny cocked her eyebrow, at a lost at how Hermione had brushed her off. She just hung her head and continued to her room.

oOoOo

Getting back into the swing of classes was hard enough after a two-day absence, but with the coming final exams, the pressure was even harder. Seven out of eight of her professors were at least slightly sympathetic, but it seemed Snape could care less about her Potions work. During the last class of the year, all he had to say to her was 'I'd be prepared for a poor mark on the exam if you do not get this potion up to par, Miss Weasley." Which she later laughed at, relieved, because she had found the exam almost pleasurable with its ease. Ginny supposed that all the extra credit work she had submitted during the year had boosted her grasp on the concept of Potion-brewing. The exams for Latin, Charms, and Herbology had gone very well, she thought. History of Magic and Astronomy had been tedious, but she felt the marks would be equivalent to what she had been consistently receiving throughout the year. McGonagall's test was tricky, and would probably be her lowest mark. And the result of D.A.D.A. test was likely to outshine all of her other grades. Professor Lupin was one of the cleverest teachers she had ever known to exist, and she completely loved his interactive exam. He had given her a bright smile when she finished and congratulated her on receiving full marks.

Walking up the grounds to the Castle, she couldn't bring herself to stop smiling. In very high spirits, she decided to visit Ashlyn, who had spent the past two weeks in the infirmary. She reached the hospital wing and knocked until Madam Pomfrey finally answered it. Seeing who it was at the door, Madam Pomfrey's face dropped, "I'm assuming you're here to see your friend, yes?"

Ginny nodded her head happily.

"Well I am afraid to say that she is no longer with us."

"What do you mean?" Ginny held a hand to her mouth, which had opened in surprise.

"I mean, she left to St. Mungo's this morning. Tonight is the full moon, and with the insistence from her parents, she was moved to a more secure facility," she said, giving an almost sympathetic glance to Ginny. "It also seems, that she will not be returning to Hogwarts next year. We are not prepared to handle her affliction, at least not this next term."

"Oh, I see. Thank you, Madam," Ginny's shoulders sank as she walked away. She had never gotten the chance to speak with her friend after the night with Riddle.

"Ginny?" she had been about to ascend the stairs back to the tower, when someone called her name. It was Luna Lovegood.

"Hey Luna," she trotted over to the Ravenclaw, smiling. "Just finish your exam?"

"Yes, it went well. But, I also wanted to show you something," she said, holding out a magazine that read _The Quibbler_ across its front cover. "You remember the article on Hybrids? Well, it looks as if Dad's published it early. Flip to page 26."

Ginny did as she was told, and opened up to a picture of a beautiful man with long silvery hair. In catchy letters over his photo, it said, "He's part Veela, and his wife was a werewolf…and now 'I'm just trying to find the child that has been lost to me for over a decade'…". She looked up at Luna, incredulously. "You don't think— but Ashlyn's never mentioned she didn't live with her biological parents…"

"She might not know, or maybe she does," she said vaguely, taking the magazine back. "The similarity between this man's features and hers, however, makes me think that she could be related to him."

"That would also explain why her parents just forgot to mention that she might have --difficulties-- as she grew up," Ginny said, frowning.

"I was just going to show this to her, would you like to join me?" Luna asked. "I realize it might be rather blunt but—"

"You can't see her. She's gone. Ashlyn was taken to St. Mungo's earlier today. That's what Madam Pomfrey told me a few minutes ago. And on top of that, she said that Ashlyn wouldn't be returning next year." Ginny rubbed at her eyes distractedly.

Luna's face paled slightly, and she said 'Oh' in a very disheartened manner. "I was beginning to consider her as a friend. It's sad to think that I may not see her again."

"Don't say that," Ginny said sulkily, not wanting to admit that fact to herself. "There's always a chance she'll come back."

The Ravenclaw allowed a small smile at the hope, and said, "Nothing is impossible, I know."

There was silence for a while, and Ginny took to looking at Luna's fingernails. They were healing slowly, the pinkness beginning to peak through the black, burned coloring they had taken on after Riddle's spell. With a knot in her stomach, Ginny knew that she and Luna would always have some sort of connection because of that night. They all would. Even Malfoy, and she frowned at the thought.

"A Wrackspurt, is it?" she heard Luna's voice floating into her thoughts, and Ginny snapped her head up and apologized. "No worry, there are always a few roaming around this castle. They just flow in through your ears and make your mind fuzzy."

"Oh. Oh! Yea, I guess they can do that, huh?" She had no idea what Luna was talking about.

"Ginny, what happened with Tom Riddle… that could not have been avoided."

Ginny's mouth fell slightly, "But, Luna…"

"It was something that needed to be resolved, and I for one, do not regret being there with you. You did not ask for that to happen to you, it just worked out that way. Stop blaming yourself, after all, you acted bravely."

"Th-thank you, Luna," Ginny said, the feeling behind the words extremely genuine. "You were amazing too, and I'm glad I had your support."

They both were quiet for another moment. Ginny suggested, "So, on the train ride to Kings Cross, we'll sit together?"

"That would be nice," Luna said sincerely.

The next morning, after organizing her books, folding her clothes, gathering her stuff, and packing her trunk, Ginny made her way down to breakfast at around ten. The Hall was near empty, only a few straggler's not taking full advantage of the beautiful day outside and the Hogsmeade visit. She was sitting alone at her house table when she saw a group of older Gryffindors enter. They appeared to be very upset about something, and the name Lupin seemed to be the topic. Ginny got up from her seat, acting as if she were finished with her meal, and very slowly walked past where they had sat down.

"Heard he's resigned—"

"—Oh no! He was my favorite teacher!"

"Yea, and last night he was our favorite lycan—"

"So, it's true? He really is a werewolf?"

"Yea, everyone knows about it…"

Ginny didn't stop walking until she had excited the Great Hall. _How could I have not heard?_ She couldn't believe that he was leaving! Making up her mind, she ran to his office as fast as she could. Reaching his door, she gathered her breath before knocking on it. She could hear him bustling around inside, but he paused at the tapping, and called, "Yes, come in!"

"Professor?" Ginny poked her head inside shyly, only now realizing that she didn't know what she wanted to say to him exactly.

"Oh, hello Ginny," he said, looking happy to see her. "Please, come in."

She did so, closing the door behind her lightly. Her mouth moved before she could even make out a clear sentence, "You—leaving? Don't! Why?" and he laughed at her choppy words. Ginny blushed and cleared her throat quietly, then said in a little voice, "I mean, please don't go."

He had been filing papers into his briefcase, but stopped to look at her with a vague smile playing at his lips. "I'm afraid that I must. It would be very unwise of me to stay at Hogwarts after what happened last night."

"What did happen?"

He sighed, swept a lock of hair out of his face, only to have it resolutely swing back down his forehead, and said, "I am werewolf, Ginny."

The words didn't have that much of an effect on Ginny, after all, one of her best friends shared a very similar condition. She said stubbornly, "So?"

He didn't laugh this time, but gave her a funny look. "I might've expected that from you. But you must understand, last night I was…loose, and not myself. I could've hurt, or even killed, any one of you. It's for the best that I leave Hogwarts."

"_Did_ you hurt anyone last night?"

"It was very fortunate that I did not. That chance is not one that I would gamble with again, though." He emptied another one of the drawers of his desk as he told her this. Ginny resisted the urge to take the drawer from him and start stuffing his things back into it.

"I-I…" she started, but again found the words she wanted to say very elusive. Lupin glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "So, that's it? You're leaving for good?"

"Yes, although if I could have it my way—"

"But you can, Dumbledore can work it out for you to remain here!" she said stepping forward and flapping her arms out of frustration.

"This was my choice, Ginny. I'm used to this happening, actually."

"Well, I'm not used to you not being here!" she hoarsely, wanting to shake reason into him. It hit her that she was almost crying out to one of her Professors, and whispered dejectedly, "You were the best teacher I've ever had."

At that, he stopped emptying drawers, which he seemed to have an indefinite amount of, and looked at her fondly. "Don't say that, Ginny. There are many great teachers at this school. Though, I will admit to being a bit more qualified than my predecessor."

Ginny didn't smile at his joke, but stared at the floor instead. Many people she had considered close happened to be leaving her. An image of Sirius came to the surface of her mind, and she cried out softly.

Lupin had obviously heard her and stepped around his desk to walk over. He placed a warm hand on her shoulder and knelt down to eye level with her. "Why are you crying?"

Bringing a hand up to her eyes, she wiped away the few resilient tears that had escaped her lashes. She brought her head up and smiled at him, ignoring his question, she declared, "We'll see each other again some day."

"I have a feeling that we will," he tightened his grip on her shoulder reassuringly before standing straight again. Lupin's eyes rested briefly on her neck and his expression turned very thoughtful for a second, "In the beginning of the year— in the carriage, actually— I meant to ask you something…"

Ginny nodded her head, waiting for him to continue.

"The necklace you wear, who gave it to you?"

This was an unexpected question, and immediately her hand flew up to the pendant secured around her neck. Ginny hesitated, fingering the silver miniature of a sword with a snake wrapped around it. "Last year, I just sort of woke up with it on, and I hardly take it off…but as for who gave it to me, I always suspected it was Riddle."

"Why do you wear it?" he asked, his eyebrows drawing together slightly.

"It was the first gift I had ever received from someone outside of my family; I thought it was something special. It still is, really, just not in the most favorable way, I suppose," she said, her voice very soft. She bowed her face, hiding her eyes behind her bangs. "At the time, I felt that he was one of the very few people who cared for me."

"That's not true."

"It's not, is it?" she looked up at him and smiled, "I don't need any affection from some diary now, because I know there are other, sincerely good and kind, people who care for me. That's a great feeling."

He nodded his head, and his expression softened to one of contentment.

They stood in the stillness of the classroom, each listening to the summer noises wafting through the open windows. It was very relaxing, she thought, and hadn't felt so at ease for months. At least since, with a slight jolt in her stomach again at his name, since the last she had been with Sirius.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, Professor," she said faintly, turning to leave. She heard him repeat the word to her, and at the door, she added, "Until we meet again?"

"Until then," Lupin smiled, and for once, she felt true warmth behind it. Ginny did not close the door as she left.

oOoOo

_Dear Ginny,_

_I hope your summer is going well! _

_ I met my father for the first time the other day, and I can't explain to you the feeling. It's odd, yes, but at the same time very fulfilling. Learning about my real parents is comforting, even though my mother has passed. It turns out that she gave me to Mum and Dad before she died. She and my father had been separated by unforeseen forces right after I was born, and for some reason she needed to give me up. I wonder from what. But, at least I know that she only did it with my best interests in mind…I thank her for it, but still wish I could have known her. It's strange to think she had to give me up…_

_Enough with the heavy stuff, though!_

_Oh yea! You won't believe this, but I have a tutor! And guess who it is?_

_Professor Lupin! It turns out he's a werewolf! I couldn't believe it myself. I mean, he always seemed so normal, if not a bit pale sometimes. But, it makes me very hopeful for my future. He thinks I'll do just fine…At least, once I can control the random fire eruptions on my hands —which is just another side-effect of being a hybrid wolf and veela…_

_Speaking of veela, my father says for me to say 'hello' to you! He's really excited to learn all about my friends and Hogwarts. He also says your father 'is a good man', but I don't know what he means exactly. Maybe they knew each other? Heh, oh well._

_ Have a swell time at the Quidditch World Cup! (I won't be able to go, unfortunately it runs into that night of the month for me). And when you get back to school, say hello to everyone for me! Besides that git, Malfoy. Well, OK, maybe even him too…_

_Yours Truly,_

_Ashlyn_

_PD. Did Snape really give you such a large detention that it will run into next year? That's crazy, and all because you almost got his favorite (bratty and annoying) student killed. Pfft, personally, I wouldn't have minded if he _had_ snuffed it. My sympathies to you, love._

_PPD. Oh, and since you'll be at the Quidditch World Cup, you might see Oliver Wood, in which case I ask you to get his picture for me. Please? Just a little one? All right, all right, I'm stopping now. But if you could have him sign it too… _

…

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**Author's note: **If there were any unanswered questions, then that's because 1) they'll be answered in part two, 2) it never occurred to me to answer that question because a) I'm stupid like that. And poor Ginny, especially when it comes to Harry!

So, was it satisfying? Disappointing? Pointless? Annoying?

Review and tell me! Even if you hate the story/the author/puppies/anything! I really adore all of my readers so much, that I would love to hear from all of you!


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